Cataract treatment for people with Alzheimer's disease improved quality of life in a small study and should not be dismissed as "wasted therapy" for people with dementias, researchers said here.
Preliminary results from an ongoing study indicated that the 20 patients who opted to have immediate cataract surgery showed a mean increase of 0.39 points in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score after 6 months, said Alan Lerner, MD, of University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, whereas the 14 patients who declined or delayed treatment had a 2.31 point decrease in MMSE scores (P value not reported).
