Are hip fractures a flag for Alzheimer’s? It seems so, as most silvers hospitalised for hip fracture surgery carried biomarkers of developing Alzheimer’s, says a new study. Surprisingly, none of the people observed for the study carried any clinical signs of dementia. This adds to proof that brain alterations that lead to poor balance in silvers may underpin both increased risk of hip-fracturing falls and Alzheimer’s, and that hip fracture itself may serve as a first sign of undiagnosed disease. The study by the Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Centre at John Hopkins University doesn’t suggest that every silver with a hip fracture has Alzheimer’s. On the other hand, it does suggest that people facing hip repair surgery after a fall be monitored closely for post-operative delirium or other mental or cognitive problems, because some may have underlying Alzheimer’s disease. The study was conducted on 200 hip fracture patients with an average age of 82, over almost five years.

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April 2019