According to The Telegraph, the signs, which are detectable in spinal fluid and brain scans, can help researchers understand the progress of the disease. This makes way for researchers to come up with new preventative and treatment measures.


Alzheimer's is a progressive form of pre-senile dementia that is similar to senile dementia except that it usually starts in the 40s or 50s. Among the first symptoms of this disease include impaired memory, followed by impaired thought and speech and finally complete helplessness.

The study was conducted on 128 people from families who faced a high risk of inhering genes that lead to Alzheimer's disease. According to reports, the plaques in the brain become visible on a brain scan 15 years before memory problems, shrinkage of parts of the brain and increased levels of tau (a type of protein) that appears in the spinal fluid become visible.

"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," said Dr Laurie Ryan, clinical trials program director at the National Institute on Aging in the United States.

Director of research at the Alzheimer's Society Professor Clive Ballard too agreed that such findings "may have major implications for diagnosis and treatment in the future".

Authorities still however remain unsure if the findings could apply to others with non-hereditary Alzheimer's disease. Ballard believes that further research is still required into this complex condition "to confirm a definite link".



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Holistic Living Annex (JULY 2012)