By evaluating 128 subjects from families that may develop Alzheimer's due to genetics. The participants in the study have a 50% chance of inheriting one of three mutations that are linked to the formation of Alzheimer's, often at awfully young ages.
The timeline includes not only the medical histories of the subjects' parents but also changes in the brain leading to declines in memory attainment and cognitive development.
The earliest of these changes, a drop in spinal fluid levels of the key ingredient of Alzheimer's brain plaques, can be detected 25 years before the anticipated age of onset.
Randall Bateman, MD (above) explains that these changes may develop decades before the Alzheimer's symptoms are highly noticeable among family members and friends.
As an example, Bateman says that the new data show the plaques become visible on brain scans 15 years before memory problems become apparent.
The DIAN partnership is currently researching the unique case of Alzheimer's disease that can cause symptoms in people who have just reached their 30s and/or 40s.
These exciting findings are the first to confirm what we have long suspected, that disease onset begins years before the first sign of cognitive decline or memory loss.
More results from the study:
- Elevated spinal fluid levels of tau, a structural protein in brain cells, appear 15 years before Alzheimer's symptoms.
- Shrinkage in key brain structures becomes discernible 15 years before symptoms.
- Decreases in the brain's use of the sugar glucose and slight impairments in a specific type of memory are detectable 10 years before symptoms.
Anyone with a genetic history of multiple generations diagnosed with Alzheimer's before the age of 55 can be eligible to participate in the DIAN studies.
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