- Index hide
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease may first appear after age 60, and the risk increases with age.
According to the CDC, the number of people living with the disease doubles every 5 years after the age of 65.
Researchers at King’s College London developed a blood test capable of predicting Alzheimer’s disease up to 3.5 years before clinical diagnosis.
The study involved 56 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), that is, impaired memory or cognitive ability. This disorder affects between 5% and 20% of people over the age of 65 and is not severe enough to interfere with their daily lives. People with MCI are usually aware of it.
Although MCI does not necessarily lead to Alzheimer’s disease, it is estimated that between 10% and 15% of people with it develop dementia each year. Of the 56 participants in the study, whose results were published in the journal Brain, 36 ended up being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Changes appear years before diagnosis
The researchers modeled the process of neurogenesis – production of neurons – in a dish using human brain cells and human blood. They treated brain cells with blood taken from people with MCI to see how those cells changed in response to blood as Alzheimer’s disease progressed.
Using blood tests collected furthest away from the time the participants were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the researchers found that changes in neurogenesis occurred 3.5 years before the clinical diagnosis of the disease.
In addition, blood samples collected from participants who developed Alzheimer’s disease promoted decreased cell growth and increased apoptotic cell death, the process of programmed cell death.
The researchers say this is the first evidence that the human body’s circulatory system can affect the brain’s ability to form new cells.
“We are excited about the possible applications of the blood test that we have used. For example, it may help stratify individuals with memory problems for a clinical trial of Alzheimer’s disease-modifying drugs,” says Hyunah Lee, MD, co-first author of the study, from the King Institute for Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. .
Alzheimer’s disease affects millions of people.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, a broad term for loss of memory and other cognitive abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life.
Alzheimer’s disease often begins with difficulty remembering new information. Symptoms progress over time and may include mood and behavior changes, disorientation, confusion, difficulty speaking, swallowing, and walking.
Related notes: