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As we age, we can appreciate how our body changes in our hair, skin, and joints, letting us know that we are getting older. Alongside these obvious changes, our brain starts its own aging process too, although the symptoms might not be as noticeable. This perception mismatch is one of the key challenges in the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.<\/p>\n
In recent decades, thanks to\u00a0the development of advanced imaging techniques, the\u00a0changes occurring in our\u00a0brain as we age have been observed permitting\u00a0early diagnosis of neurodegenerative processes such as Alzheimer\u2019s disease.\u00a0 However,\u00a0making a confident diagnosis relying on few symptoms and brain images\u00a0remains challenging because some of the Alzheimer\u2019s indicators are also an inevitable part of normal ageing.<\/p>\n
Now, a new study<\/a> published this month in BMJ Open<\/a>, brings the prevention of Alzheimer\u2019s disease a step forward. \u00a0Combining the current diagnostic imaging tests used by doctors with powerful statistical analyses, researchers propose a model that could not only help accurate early diagnosis, but also\u00a0the identification of healthy people at high risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n Alzheimer\u2019s disease is a progressive disorder that affects between 10 and 30% of the population over 65\u00a0years of age according to the best estimates<\/a> to date. The main brain areas damaged during disease progression are the cerebral cortex, responsible for our motor coordination and perception of sensory information, and the hippocampus, responsible for much of our memory. Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)<\/a>\u00a0images of the brain, which reveal the anatomic structure of the brain,\u00a0doctors can in most cases diagnose Alzheimer\u2019s disease in contrast to\u00a0healthy ageing. However, prevention – the identification of healthy individuals\u00a0at risk of Alzheimer\u2019s disease before brain damage occurs – is yet to be achieved. This is what\u00a0this timely study by Cespedes and colleagues set out to answer: How can\u00a0individuals at high risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease be identified?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The researchers\u00a0obtained the brain images from patients from the Australian Imaging Biomarker and Lifestyle Study of Ageing (AIBL)<\/a>, an ongoing study which aims to discover factors potentially influencing the development of Alzheimer\u2019s disease. A group of\u00a0healthy adults, subjects having mild cognitive impairments, and\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s disease patients had a MRI\u00a0scan done\u00a0every 18 months\u00a0from the age of 65.\u00a0The authors analysed the\u00a0images obtained using an authoritative statistical technique and observed marked differences between the three groups. Comparing the volume of the hippocampus, one of the main areas affected by neuron loss during Alzheimer\u2019s disease, allowed the identification of high-risk individuals who progressed from being healthy to having cognitive impairment over time (graphical representation below). Additionally, the researchers could detect specific time points when major degenerative events were likely to occur.<\/p>\n Image: graphical results representing the average volume of hippocampus in the brain against the age of the participants in healthy ageing adults (BLUE), subjects with minor cognitive impairments (GREEN) and diagnosed Alzheimer\u2019s disease patients (RED). Note the marked differences in the hippocampus volume between the 3 groups in patients over 80 years of age.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n To date,\u00a0treatments that fight brain damage are used to ameliorate Alzheimer’s disease progression, but the\u00a0future and ultimate goal of the research community is prevention;\u00a0if individuals at high risk of Alzheimer\u2019s disease could be confidently identified, active treatments beginning at around 50 years of age could prevent disease onset in the future. That is why\u00a0using analyses such as the one described in this study could become crucial in preventing disease onset in still healthy individuals before clinically evident symptoms emerge, eradicating Alzheimer’s disease.<\/p>\n To learn more about the study, share it, or comment on it, please\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As we age, we can appreciate how our body changes in our hair, skin, and joints, letting us know that we are getting older. Alongside these obvious changes, our brain starts its own aging process too, although the symptoms might not be as noticeable. This perception mismatch is one of the key challenges in the […]<\/p>\nNormal ageing or Alzheimer\u2019s disease?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nClinical implications<\/strong><\/h3>\n