Background: The clinical picture of Alzheimer's disease includes anthropometric and body composition variations. Somatotyping is a practical non-invasive method to assess body type. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the somatotype of a sample of Alzheimer's patients. Methods: The sample consisted of 55 Alzheimer disease individuals in the mild-moderate stage (17 men, mean age = 76.9 ± 7.2 years; 38 women, mean age = 79.6 ± 6.4 years). The pathological subjects were compared with a control group consisting of 280 healthy individuals (134 men, mean age = 74.2 ± 7.3 years; 146 women, mean age = 74.9 ± 7.4 years). The Heath-Carter somatotype was applied. Results: The Alzheimer patients (mean somatotype: 6.1-5.5-0.8 in men, 7.0-5.3-0.7 in women) are less mesomorphic and more ectomorphic than the controls (mean somatotype: 6.1-6.3-0.6 in men, 7.7-6.3-0.4 in women), the differences being significant in women (mesomorphy, p = 0.000; ectomorphy, p = 0.012). Conclusion: Alzheimer patients show peculiar somatometric characteristics. The somatotype technique could represent a suitable tool for the study and monitoring of physical variations.

Somatotype in Alzheimer's disease

BUFFA, ROBERTO;LODDE, MARCO;MARINI, ELISABETTA
2007-01-01

Abstract

Background: The clinical picture of Alzheimer's disease includes anthropometric and body composition variations. Somatotyping is a practical non-invasive method to assess body type. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the somatotype of a sample of Alzheimer's patients. Methods: The sample consisted of 55 Alzheimer disease individuals in the mild-moderate stage (17 men, mean age = 76.9 ± 7.2 years; 38 women, mean age = 79.6 ± 6.4 years). The pathological subjects were compared with a control group consisting of 280 healthy individuals (134 men, mean age = 74.2 ± 7.3 years; 146 women, mean age = 74.9 ± 7.4 years). The Heath-Carter somatotype was applied. Results: The Alzheimer patients (mean somatotype: 6.1-5.5-0.8 in men, 7.0-5.3-0.7 in women) are less mesomorphic and more ectomorphic than the controls (mean somatotype: 6.1-6.3-0.6 in men, 7.7-6.3-0.4 in women), the differences being significant in women (mesomorphy, p = 0.000; ectomorphy, p = 0.012). Conclusion: Alzheimer patients show peculiar somatometric characteristics. The somatotype technique could represent a suitable tool for the study and monitoring of physical variations.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11584/103796
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