Alzheimer's Disease and Suicide: An Integrative Literature Review

Juliano Flávio Rubatino Rodrigues; Livia Peregrino Rodrigues; Gerardo Gerardo Maria de Araújo Filho

doi:10.2174/0115672050292472240216052614

Alzheimer's Disease and Suicide: An Integrative Literature Review

Curr Alzheimer Res. 2024 Feb 22. doi: 10.2174/0115672050292472240216052614. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Juliano Flávio Rubatino Rodrigues^{1

2

3}, Livia Peregrino Rodrigues^{4

5}, Gerardo Gerardo Maria de Araújo Filho²

Affiliations

¹ Faculdade de Medicina de Marília (FAMEMA), Marília, SP, Brazil.
² Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP), São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil.
³ Unimed Bauru Cooperativa de Trabalho Médico, Bauru, SP, Brazil.
⁴ Faculdade de Medicina de Barbacena (FAME), Barbacena, MG, Brazil.
⁵ Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Marília (UNIMAR), Marília, SP, Brazil.

PMID: 38409712
DOI: 10.2174/0115672050292472240216052614

Abstract

Introduction: Suicide has been described in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Some promising medications for treating Alzheimer's disease have had their studies suspended because they increase the risk of suicide. Understanding the correlations between suicide and Alzheimer's disease is essential in an aging world.

Method: A search was carried out on electronic websites (PubMed and Scielo) using the MeSH Terms "suicide" and "Alzheimer" (1986-2023). Of a total of 115 articles, 26 were included in this review.

Results: Depression and the allele ε4 of Apolipoprotein (APOE4) were demonstrated to be the main risk factors for suicide in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Conclusion: Adequately delineating which elderly people are vulnerable to suicide is important so that new treatments for Alzheimer's disease can be successful. This review showed a need for new studies to investigate the interface between Alzheimer's disease and suicide.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; integrative; old people; psychiatry; review; suicide.