Dietary preference for sweet foods in patients with dementia.
Using a telephone survey, patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (n = 31) and vascular dementia (n = 14) were compared with elderly normal controls (n = 43) in preferences for different foods. Patients with Alzheimer's disease had a greater preference than normal controls for relatively high-fat, sweet foods and for high-sugar, low-fat foods, but did not significantly differ in preference for other foods, including those high in complex carbohydrates and protein. Vascular dementia patients showed a similar pattern, not significantly different from that for Alzheimer's patients. Results did not consistently support a hypothesis that increased sweet preference is a nonspecific form of disinhibited behavior related to declining mental status, nor was a hypothesis relating sweet preference to serotonin activity within the brain consistently supported. Results provide preliminary evidence that craving for sweet food may be a significant part of the clinical syndrome of dementia, but further research is needed to delineate the psychological and biological mechanisms accounting for it.
Department of Community Health, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, California.
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D
Mungas
J K
JK
Cooper
P G
PG
Weiler
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D
Gietzen
C
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Franzi
C
C
Bernick
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats