Scientists have found five early signs of Alzheimer’s disease which could help uncover the disease decades before the onset of obvious symptoms. A team of researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of Washington have looked at genetic risk of 128 subjects from the U.S., UK and Australia, people who had a 50% chance of inheriting one of the three genetic mutations that cause Alzheimer’s and get active around the age of 30-40 years.
These forms of Alzheimer’s occur much earlier than the common form, whose signs are obvious for people around 60 years old. The research took into account participants’ parents age at which they developed the disease, to calculate how long the latter would have before the first symptoms to be noticeable.
Researchers have analyzed blood and cerebrospinal fluid, while monitoring brain activity and mental skills. It was found that the most rapid change is a decrease in cerebrospinal fluid of a specific molecule which is a part of the “plates” characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease – deposits of specific substances that accumulate in the brain. This process can be detected 25 years before the illness becomes obvious. It could also be noticed, at 15 years of age, an increase in tau protein (which stabilizes the structure of brain cells) and a decrease in volume in certain parts of the brain.
Scientists suggest that changes linked to the way the brain uses glucose and mild memory loss are evident 10 years before symptoms appear. The researchers also tested other family members of participants that have not inherited the mutations, and have not noticed any change in the markers that they tested.
“The research points out that key changes in the brain occur decades before Alzheimer’s take control, which may have implications for diagnosis and treatment of disease in the future,” said Professor Clive Ballard, director of the Society for Alzheimer’s. To be successful, the Alzheimer’s treatment will have to be given long before the illness becomes obvious. The ability to detect disease in early stages will allow people to start treatment early and will also allow the development of new drugs.
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