WARNING SIGNS : A NEW TEST TO PREDICT ALZHEIMER'S

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the University of Pittsburgh have developed the first screening tool that can help predict whether elderly patients are at low, moderate or high risk of developing dementia. The new test takes into account characteristic risk factors for dementia, including advanced age and the presence of genes associated with Alzheimer's, but also relies on lesser-known contributors such as patients' body weight and alcohol-drinking habits.

Detecting the earliest signs of memory loss and dementia - the broader category of age-related conditions of mental decline, up to 80% of which are Alzheimer's - has always been a major goal of researchers. While there is no cure for Alzheimer's, the earlier patients are diagnosed, the sooner they can make lifestyle changes that may help slow the progression of the neurodegenerative disorder. But so far, no test has proven dependable enough to help patients predict their true risk; even the presence of genes known to be associated with Alzheimer's does not reliably lead to the disease.

To date, the only other major screening tool for Alzheimer's was developed by Finnish scientists in 2006. However, that screen is targeted toward a younger population and designed to identify the highest-risk individuals in midlife. But considering how many factors may intervene between midlife and the 60s - the decade in which Alzheimer's typically sets in - Deborah Barnes, a Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF, says she wanted to develop a screen for the older population more likely to be at immediate risk of the disease.

"It's important to figure out who is at high risk and low risk, so that as we develop tools for prevention, we can try to target our prevention efforts at people with the highest risk for developing dementia," says Barnes, Lead Author of the new report published today in the Journal Neurology.

Barnes and her colleagues studied 3,375 patients age 65 years or older who were enrolled in a study analyzing heart disease and cognition. Researchers recorded which of the patients developed dementia in the six-year study period, then isolated the risk factors that appeared to make dementia more likely. Many factors were considered: age, genetic risk factors, mental health status, depression, physical fitness, alcohol consumption, fine motor skills and social support. In the end, only a handful of factors, arranged on a 15-point scale, emerged as being highly predictive of dementia.

Volunteers who scored eight points or higher on the index - which includes older age, worse cognitive function, some heart disease risk factors and the presence of genes linked to Alzheimer's - were at high risk of developing dementia within six years; 56% of these high scorers showed serious mental decline by the end of the study period. Of those scoring lower on the index, deemed at moderate or low risk, 23% were diagnosed with dementia.

Many of the risk factors included in the new screen are familiar: advanced age and the presence of Alzheimer's genes (which are associated with the growth of fatty plaques and tangles in the brain that gum up neural connections), for example, have long been clearly linked to dementia. Even heart disease risk factors are somewhat expected, since recent studies show that the same conditions that boost the risk of heart attack, such as high cholesterol, hypertension and atherosclerosis, may also raise the risk of dementia; the theory is that whatever is causing fat deposits in heart vessels may also contribute to fat and protein deposits in the Alzheimer's brain.

But some of the elements in the index were more surprising. The research team found, for instance, that patients who were underweight, did not drink alcohol and took longer to put on and button a shirt were also at high risk for dementia. Barnes speculates that fine motor skills, such as those required to button a shirt, may be one of the first things to suffer as neural connections in the brain succumb to dementia. As for the alcohol connection, she suggests that people who drink alcohol may simply be healthier overall and therefore less vulnerable than others to mental decline. "It's possible that someone who is still enjoying a glass of wine each day is in better health," Barnes says.

But she warns that it's too early to encourage elderly patients to start drinking in order to stave off senior moments. "Since alcohol is contraindicated with so many medications today, sicker people who are taking medications may have had to cut alcohol out," she says.

Still, the screening tool may be extremely useful in prompting high-risk people to start doing whatever they can to protect themselves from future memory loss. "This study has taken a number of earlier findings on risk factors and combined them into a fairly impressive predictor of risk," says Dr. Ralph Nixon, vice chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council for the Alzheimer's Association. The new index accurately predicts dementia in 81% of cases. (The midlife tool predicts dementia accurately 78% of the time.)

So, what should high scorers do? For one, they can build a rich social network of friends and family, and engage aggressively in ways that challenge their mental as well as physical capabilities. "I truly believe that a lifestyle that incorporates greater socialization and greater use of the mind is what is most important for reducing risk of Alzheimer's," says Nixon, who is also Director of the Center of Excellence on Brain Aging at New York University Langone Medical Center. And if this screen can inform more people about their risk of developing dementia - and encourage younger folks to start taking precautions early - perhaps they will be able to prevent the disorder from occurring in the first place.


(Source: Time, May 14, 2009)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090514/hl_time/08599189803400/print