The authors describe a family group studied by the Centro de Biologìa Molecular y Biotecnologìa, and the Clìnica de la Memoria, las Demencias y el Envejecimiento (Universidad Tecnològica de Pereira, Colombia), and evaluate the association of depressive symptoms with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This family presented a hereditary pattern for AD characterized by an early onset of dementia symptoms, a long preclinical depressive course, and, once the first symptoms of dementia appeared, a rapid progression to severe cognitive function impairment. The authors found a high prevalence of depressive symptoms in this family and propose that the symptoms could be an important risk factor for developing AD in the presence of other risk factors such as the APOE E4 allele.
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