ALZHEIMER’S SIMPLE TEST TO SPOT DISEASE IN MIDDLE AGE
BLOOD tests could identify those in middle age who will be at risk of Alzheimer’s later in life, research suggests.
And the warning signs could help doctors prescribe preventative steps which might be as simple as taking regular aspirin.
Researchers claim people who have indicators in their blood of inflammations in their 40s and 50s may have more brain shrinkage decades later.
Scientists have found a link between cell loss caused by shrinkage and the dementia disease.
The cell loss was found in areas of the brain specifically subject to Alzheimer’s, which now affects more than 500,000 people in the UK.
Study author Keenan Walker, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said: “These results suggest inflammation in midlife may be an early contributor to the brain changes that are associated with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
“Because the processes that lead to brain cell loss begin decades before people start showing any symptoms it is vital we figure out how these processes that happen in middle age affect people many years later.”
Professor Sir Peter Lachmann, Emeritus Professor of Immunology at Cambridge, said: “The findings would support the views that anti-inflammatory medicines such as aspirin and avoidance of smoking might delay the onset of dementia.”
The latest research, published by the American Academy of Neurology, involved tests on the levels of five markers of inflammation in the blood in 1,633 people with a typical age of 53. An average of 24 years later, participants took a memory test and underwent brain scans to measure the volume of several areas of the brain.
Those with elevated levels on three or more biomarkers in their 50s had on average five per cent lower volume in the hippocampus, the part of the brain controlling memory, and other areas of the brain associated with Alzheimer’s.
Dr Joe Butchart, consultant physician and dementia researcher, said: “Overall, there is a growing consensus that, in the future, we may be able to prevent dementias like Alzheimer’s disease if we begin addressing risk factors such as these during middle age.”
And Dr Carol Routledge, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “There is growing evidence that inflammation plays an important role in the development of Alzheimer’s.”