Involvement of the Spinal Cord in the Alzheimer’s Disease: A Literature Review

Context: Pathologic studies often show an involvement of the spinal cord in the early stages of the Alzheimer’s (AD) disease; clinical studies further show a statistically-relevant frequency of gait impairment and an increased risk of falling. Therefore, the spinal cord is possibly involved in the Alzheimer’s disease and has a role in the appearance of some symptoms.

Evidence Acquisition: Medline literature search.

Results: Several pathologic studies in animals and humans show abnormalities in the spinal cord and particularly in the anterior horn lesions that are typical of AD. Several clinical studies show frequent and precocious impairment of the gait, which is possibly related to the pathology of the spinal cord.

Conclusions: The AD disease does not only affect the brain, and cognitive symptoms, as well as non-cognitive symptoms are typical of the early stages of the disease.