Signs of Alzheimer’s can be seen up to 18 years before onset

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Was standing: March 17, 2024, 5:10 a.m

From: Bettina Menzel

PressSplit

A study from China finds signs of Alzheimer’s up to 18 years before the onset. This would make it possible to contain the disease in the future.

Beijing – Alzheimer’s is a disease of the nervous system and one of the most common forms of dementia in Germany. Around 1.2 million people in this country suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. But it is not an inevitable fate: around 40 percent of cases can be prevented or delayed, according to the World Alzheimer’s Report of 2023. The earlier the disease is detected, the better. A scientific study from China has now been able to identify biological characteristics that provide the key to predicting Alzheimer’s disease.

Study identifies important biomarkers: Prediction of Alzheimer’s disease possible

The research team from China carried out an analysis of so-called biomarkers. These are biological characteristics that can be objectively measured – for example molecules, hormones or genes – and occur independently of clinical symptoms. The biomarkers that can be found in the cerebrospinal fluid, i.e. the body fluid in the central nervous system – the brain and spinal cord – are considered early indicators of Alzheimer’s. For their study, the researchers used data from the China Cognition and Aging Study, or Coast for short. This China-wide cohort study ran from 2000 to 2020. The people included in the study were between 45 and 56 years old at the start and had no cognitive complaints.

For their Alzheimer’s study, the Chinese scientists compared the data from 648 Coast participants who developed Alzheimer’s disease over the 20-year research period with the data from 648 people who remained cognitively healthy. For comparison, the researchers used data from the subjects’ CSF biomarkers, among other things. The levels of beta-amyloid proteins in the CSF were the first features to differ. Changes in these biomarkers were detectable 18 years before the Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

The researchers were also able to diagnose the disease years before it began using other biological characteristics that are considered to be the main triggers of Alzheimer’s. The specific biomarkers were already known before the study in connection with Alzheimer’s; the special feature of the Chinese study was its long time horizon.

Study: Biomarkers enable prevention and therapy long before the onset of Alzheimer’s

The study traced the temporal progression of biological changes in Alzheimer’s disease. These findings give doctors the opportunity to initiate risk reduction, prevention and treatment measures – many years before the disease actually breaks out. The disease can be prevented or at least delayed. The researchers were also able to demonstrate genetic risks: Alzheimer’s patients are more likely (37.2 percent compared to 20.4 percent in the control group) to carry the risk gene Apolipoprotein E, or Apoe4 for short. This is involved in fat metabolism, such as cholesterol transport.

But in addition to genes, your own life choices also play a role. Research is increasingly showing that “dementia can be delayed or even prevented if we make targeted changes to our lifestyle habits such as exercise, diet and social contacts,” emphasized Dame Louise Robinson, Professor of Primary Care at the University of Newcastle, in World Health last year. Alzheimer’s report. “In addition, it is never too late to correct hearing loss,” the expert continued. With this reference, she alluded to another important study: an international research group recognized hearing loss as one of the twelve most important risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. The conclusion: A hearing aid should be just as obvious as glasses.