According to a new research, lack of interest and hopelessness significantly anticipate a person's progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia, comprising Alzheimer and Lewy body dementia.

Depressive disorder leads to changes in mood, judgment, physical health and behavior, while apathy is loss of motivation without associated feelings of being depressed or blue.

The study was headed by Yonas E. Geda, M. D., a Mayo Clinic neuropsychiatrist.

Geda and his fellow team discovered that people with MCI and depressive disorder had a 66% increased risk of developing dementia than those individuals with MCI without depression.

Similarly, the people with mild cognitive impairment and apathy had a 99% increased risk of having dementia as compared to those individuals with mild cognitive impairment without apathy.

"This delay could have a huge impact on the quality of life for individual patients and their families, not to mention the broad public health implications of delaying the societal and economic burden of dementia," Geda added. (With Inputs from Agencies)