One of the big problems with dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative disorders is that there are few good treatments.
This is because the diseases are often so advanced at diagnosis that it is too late to do anything about them – if at all possible.
However, British researchers at the University of Cambridge have learned to spot the first signs of brain function loss, and these alarm signals can be detected up to nine years before the disease is diagnosed.
Treatment starts early
Thanks to the research, published in Alzheimer’s & DementiaIn the future, it may be possible to identify people who would benefit from treatment to reduce their risk of the diseases.
It will also be easier to find suitable candidates to participate in clinical trials of new treatments.
‘That can be people over 50, people with high blood pressure, or people who don’t get enough exercise. By acting earlier, we can help reduce their risk,” said Nol Swaddiwudhipong, a University of Cambridge physician and principal investigator of the study.
Looking for early signals
The researchers used data from the UK Biobank, a comprehensive biomedical database that contains detailed information about the genetics and health of half a million people aged 40 to 69.
The researchers looked at the participants’ health and diagnoses over several years and compared the results of a series of tests of task performance, memory, reaction time, grip strength, weight loss and the number of times people had fallen.
This way they could see if there were any early warning signs – and there were. The people who later developed various dementia-related complaints were all worse at solving tasks and had difficulty remembering numbers.
“But people who have trouble remembering numbers shouldn’t worry,” emphasizes Dr Tim Rittman, another researcher from the University of Cambridge.
“Even among healthy people, some do better or worse on these tests than their peers. But we advise anyone who has noticed a deterioration in their memory to go to the doctor.’
Common denominators discovered
As for Alzheimer’s, the researchers found that people who later developed the disease performed worse than others in areas such as problem solving, reaction time, remembering numbers and future appointments or chores, and combining things in pairs.