Nutrition and Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease begins with cognitive deficiencies that gradually become worse with the extension of cerebral lesions. Other troubles arise such as loss of independence, orientation impairments, disordered eating behavior, and weight loss. This weight loss increases the risk of infections, skin ulcers, and falls and consequently decreases quality of life in Alzheimer's patients. Various hypotheses (increased energy expenditure, mesial temporal cortex atrophy) were suggested to explain weight loss. We set up a Health Promotion Program that aims to prevent weight loss in patients with Alzheimer's disease. This program uses various tools (nutrition calendar, Mini Nutritional Assessment, nutrition education sessions) described in this article.