A XNUMX-second computerized reaction speed test will detect Alzheimer’s in XNUMX-year-olds before they begin to show symptoms of this incurable disease, affecting elderly people.
According to a specialist publication PLoS ONE, discussing research funded by the Leverhulme Foundation, the prospect of routine screening for Alzheimer’s disease may be a matter of 2-5 years, although it requires further research.
A GP practice test could become as common as blood pressure measurement, researchers predict.
Prof. David Bunce from Brunel University in London found damage smaller than a grain of rice in the so-called white matter of the cerebral hemispheres in men and women aged 44-48 years, in the part of the brain responsible for remembering. In his opinion, these changes are an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
15 percent people with abnormalities (out of nearly 500 tested) had brain injuries similar to those found in the autopsy of patients who died of Alzheimer’s disease.
The professor found that people with brain abnormalities had unequal results in a test measuring reaction speed, which consisted in following the movements of one of the two bright spots and recording the movements with a button. In a person with brain changes, the reactions were heterogeneous: too fast or too slow, while in a healthy person, reactions of one type: either slow or fast, prevail.
Currently, Alzheimer’s is diagnosed using memory tests and expensive computer scans. The analysis of the patient’s brain after death is irrefutable evidence.
Our research brings the perspective of screening, early disease detection and medical intervention. The sooner doctors are able to counteract the disease in people susceptible to it, the greater the hopes for preventing or delaying it – noted Prof. Bunce.
The benefits of early warning also include the possibility of taking countermeasures: changing unhealthy lifestyle, improving nutrition, and using preventive drugs. These drugs would have to be completely different from the current treatment-oriented late-stage patients, not to prevent it.
Over 800 people suffer from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Brits. This number may double in the next generation. Every third person dies of this disease after the age of 65.
But do all XNUMX-year-olds want to know in advance that they are at risk of senile dementia? And how will insurance companies respond to new learning opportunities? Will life insurance for someone potentially at risk of Alzheimer’s be worthwhile for them? These questions remain unanswered for the time being. (PAP)