SOMATOTROPICS, MEMORY & AGING RESEARCH TRIAL ("SMART")

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 阿尔茨海默病(AD)和其他原发性神经退行性痴呆的社会负担是巨大的，在美国，每年的总成本估计为1000亿美元(1996美元)。AD是老年人最常见的原发性脑退行性疾病，占65岁及以上痴呆患者总数的50%以上。在AD过程中尽早识别和治疗个体的必要性是显而易见的，因此有理由加强对轻度认知障碍(MCI)个体的研究，这些个体有可能在几年内进展为痴呆症。改善认知功能和延缓MCI患者衰退的成功干预措施有望预防患者及其照顾者生活质量的严重丧失，并缓解或降低日益增长的护理成本。来自动物和人类文献的大量令人信服的证据表明，生长激素轴(生长激素释放激素/生长激素/胰岛素样生长因子I)的作用对认知功能(记忆和推理能力)具有显著和可预测的影响。在一项初步研究中，我们已经表明，五个月的生长激素释放激素(GHRH)治疗改善了健康老年男性和女性的认知功能，也有初步证据支持对被诊断为MCI的人产生类似效果的可能性。GHRH可能对正在经历轻度认知障碍并可能面临持续认知下降风险的个人有直接好处。我们建议扩展我们最初的GHRH发现，使用一个全面的认知评估电池。我们将把我们对GHRH认知增强效应的研究扩展到患有MCI的老年人样本。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The societal burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other primary neurodegenerative dementias is monumental with total annual costs estimated at $100 billion (1996 dollars) per year in the United States. AD is the most common primary degenerative disorder of the aged brain, and accounts for over 50% of all cases of dementia in patients 65 years or older. The need to identify and treat individuals as early as possible in the AD process is clear, and justifies intensification of studies of individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) who are at risk for progression to dementia within a few years. Successful interventions to improve cognitive function and delay decline in individuals with MCI promise to forestall the severe loss of quality of life for patients and their caregivers, and to allay or reduce the growing costs of care. There is considerable and compelling evidence from both the animal and human literature that the actions of the somatotrophic hormonal axis (growth hormone releasing hormone/growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor I) have significant and predictable effects on cognitive function (memory and reasoning ability). In a preliminary study, we have shown that five months of growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) treatment improves cognitive function in healthy older men and women, and also have preliminary evidence that supports the likelihood of a similar effect in individuals diagnosed with MCI. GHRH may be of direct benefit to individuals who are experiencing a mild cognitive impairment and who may be at risk for continued cognitive decline. We propose to extend our initial GHRH finding, using a comprehensive cognitive assessment battery. We will extend our examination of the cognition-enhancing effects of GHRH to a sample of older adults with MCI.