Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Is Associated with Altered Neuropsychological Performance in Young Adults

BACKGROUND: Subjects with ischemic lesions have an increased risk of dementia. In addition, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular cognitive impairment share many risk factors. These observations suggest that different diseases that cause altered blood perfusion of the brain or hypoxia promote AD neurodegeneration. In this case-control, cross-sectional study, we sought to test the hypothesis that hypoxia facilitates cognitive decline. METHODS: We looked for altered neuropsychological performance in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) without apparent cardio- or cerebrovascular diseases or risk factors for atherosclerosis. A selected, homogeneous group of workers from two ceramic factories in a small town of central Italy was enrolled in this study. RESULTS: The COPD patients had a slightly, but significantly worse performance than controls in a number of neuropsychological tests. CONCLUSION: The findings are consistent with the working hypothesis that chronic hypoxia facilitates cognitive decline.