Memory test ‘can spot Alzheimer’s seven years early’
ALZHEIMER’S could be spotted seven years before symptoms first appear with a simple memory test developed by University College London.
So far all drug trials to reverse the condition have failed and most scientists now believe the disease will only be controlled by catching it early before irreversible damage has occurred.
In a new trial published in ‘The Lancet Neurology’, scientists from UCL showed that a simple memory test can pick up the very first hints of dementia, even when no other symptoms are present.
The researchers believe it is the earliest way to detect changes in someone’s cognition that lead to Alzheimer’s.
It works by testing how good memory is after a week.
Lag
A group of 35 people were recruited, 21 of whom carry a mutation which puts them at much higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s in their 40s and 50s.
They were asked to remember a list of objects, the details of a diagram, and the facts of a story.
In current tests people are asked to recall the details after 30 minutes. But for the new experiment, the time lag was extended to seven days.
The team found that those with the mutation, and who were expected to develop Alzheimer’s within seven years, were able to pass the test at 30 minutes, but their performance dropped dramatically at seven days.
“It’s really a case of accelerated forgetting,” said Professor Nick Fox, director of the Dementia Research Centre and Professor of Neurology at UCL.
“Many people have a feeling that something is going wrong with their memory, but when they take the current test, it doesn’t show anything, 30 minutes isn’t really enough time.
“The people who carried the mutation and are at an early stage of the disease did no worse at 30 minutes, but at seven days they were quite a lot worse.
“The difference was really quite remarkable.”
Alzheimer’s disease is believed to be caused by sticky amyloid plaques and tau proteins which build up in the brain and prevent neurons from communicating with each other. But by the time symptoms like memory loss, personality changes and mood swings occur the damage to the brain is so bad, it is currently impossible to treat.
Although the study was only carried out on people carrying the APP (amyloid precursor protein) genetic mutation, scientists are confident it would also work for sporadic Alzheimer’s.