A blood-based test developed by King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN) could be used to predict the risk of Alzheimer’s disease up to 3.5 years before clinical diagnosis.
The study, which was published in the journal Brain, backs up the hypothesis that components in human blood might influence the development of new brain cells, a process known as neurogenesis. Neurogenesis occurs in the hippocampus, a critical area of the brain involved in learning and memory.
Alzheimer’s Disease Detection Through Blood Test
While Alzheimer’s disease influences the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus in the early stages, previous studies could only explore neurogenesis in its later phases through autopsies.
To further understand the early alterations, researchers took blood samples from 56 people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a disease in which someone’s memory or cognitive capacity begins to deteriorate.
While not everyone who has MCI develops Alzheimer’s disease, those who have the illness move to a diagnosis at a considerably higher incidence than the general population. 36 of the 56 participants in the study were later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Aleksandra Maruszak of King’s IoPPN, one of the study’s joint first authors, explains “In our study, we treated brain cells with blood taken from people with MCI, exploring how those cells changed in response to blood as Alzheimer’s disease progressed.”
Several important discoveries were achieved by the researchers while researching how blood influenced brain cells. Blood samples acquired throughout the years from participants who later deteriorated and developed Alzheimer’s disease promoted a decrease in cell growth and division and an increase in apoptotic cell death (the process by which cells are programmed to die).
The researchers did find, however, that these samples enhanced the conversion of immature brain cells to hippocampal neurons.
While the underlying causes of the enhanced neurogenesis are unknown, the researchers hypothesize that it may be an early compensatory mechanism for the neurodegeneration (loss of brain cells) that patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
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What Is Dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella word for a group of degenerative neurological conditions (those affecting the brain) that have an impact on memory, thinking, and behavior. There are several varieties of dementia, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s disease.
Some persons may have a combination of dementia kinds. Regardless of the form of dementia identified, each person will experience it in their own unique way. Dementia is a worldwide concern, but it is particularly common in affluent countries where people live to be quite old.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, there are currently over 900,000 people in the UK living with dementia. This figure is expected to increase to 1.6 million by 2040. Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent type of dementia, affecting 50% to 75% of people diagnosed.
There are an estimated 5.5 million Alzheimer’s patients in the United States. In the future years, a similar percentage increase is projected.
The risk of having dementia grows as a person’s age increases. Rates of diagnosis are improving but many people with dementia are thought to still be undiagnosed.
There is currently no cure for dementia. However, new medications can delay its spread, and the earlier it is detected, the more successful treatments can be.
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