What is already known on this topic

The long ‘preclinical’ phase including mild cognitive impairment-stage (MCI) in the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD) provide the opportunity for preventive interventions to reduce the risk for conversion to dementia or rather slow disease progression.1 Currently, neither psychopharmacological nor non-pharmacological strategies turned out to prevent patients with MCI from converting to AD. There is increasing evidence that the risk for conversion from MCI to AD could be reduced by modifying life style and consequent treatment of especially the metabolic syndrome. Further, depressive symptoms in old age are frequently associated with cognitive impairment and have been reported as an important risk factor for an early manifestation of dementia.2 However, we know little about how to treat or predict dementia outcomes in people …