Dr. Noa Bergman explains what causes Alzheimer's, is there a way to prevent the disease, and how to treat someone who has already become ill (Walla system!)
Dementia and Alzheimer's have long since become relatively common diseases among older people, with the main reason for this being the increase in life expectancy.
These are degenerative diseases of the brain that are considered incurable.
But is it possible to detect signs of dementia up to a decade before diagnosis?
What will contribute to early diagnosis and treatment?
Well, that's what a new study by the University of Cambridge claims.
The findings, funded by the Medical Research Council and supported by the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, and published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, mean that future at-risk patients could be screened to help identify those who might benefit from early interventions to reduce their risk of developing dementia-related diseases.
They can also help select those suitable for clinical trials for new treatments.
"When we looked back at the history of the patients, it became clear that they were showing some cognitive impairment several years before their symptoms became clear enough to seek a diagnosis," the study authors said.
"The impairments were often subtle, but across several aspects of cognition. This is a step towards being able to screen out people who are most at risk - for example people over 50 or those who have high blood pressure or don't do enough exercise - and intervene earlier to to help them reduce their risk."
More on dementia:
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If you eat these foods the risk of Alzheimer's increases
Chris Hemsworth at increased risk of Alzheimer's.
What exactly does that mean?
It can be detected at a relatively early age.
A woman puts together a puzzle (Photo: ShutterStock)
People from the UK Biobank database who went on to develop Alzheimer's scored lower than healthy people on problem-solving tasks, reaction times, remembering lists of numbers, prospective memory (our ability to remember to do something later) and matching pairs.
According to the study, they were also more likely than healthy adults to have suffered a fall in the previous 12 months.
Senior editor Dr Tim Rittman, from the University of Cambridge, said: "People should not be overly concerned if, for example, they are not good at remembering numbers.
Even some healthy people will score better or worse than their peers.
But we encourage anyone who has concerns or notices that their memory is getting worse to talk to their GP."
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Alzheimer's
dementia
brain
aging
