Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. A brain scan identifies biochemical changes in the brains of normal people, who might be at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease. Results of new study have been published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. General term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 50 to 70 percent of dementia cases. It is not a normal part of aging, worsens over a time. There is not current cure, but treatments for symptoms are available and research continues.

The study was compound of 311 people in their 70s and 80s with no cognitive problems from the population-based Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. The team from Dementia Research Centre, University College London and Mayo Clinic used and advanced technique called proton MR spectroscopy (HMRS). They searched for abnormalities in several brain metabolites that may be biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. HMRS is a non-invasive method, which provides useful information on the neurochemical profile and brain metabolites in different neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, they used PET scans to assess the level of amyloid-beta deposits, or plaques, in the brain that are one of the first signs of changes in the brain due to Alzheimer’s disease. The participants were also given tests of memory, language and other skills.

There is evidence that Alzheimer’s disease is linked to changes in the brain that start many years before symptoms develop. So, it is important to find changes when symptoms have not yet developed. This strategy is the way to new treatments and when they become available – to prevent or delay the start of memory loss and cognitive decline.

The researchers found that 33 percent of the participants had significantly high levels of amyloid-beta deposits in their brains. Those with high levels of amyloid-beta deposits also linked to high levels of the brain metabolites myoinositol/creatine and choline/creatine. People with high levels of choline/creatine were more likely to have lower scores on several of the cognitive tests, regardless of the amount of amyloid-beta deposits in their brains.

They suppose the relationship between amyloid-beta deposits and metabolic changes in the brain are evidence that some of these people may be in the earliest stages of the disease.

More research is needed that follows people over a period of years to determine which of these individuals will actually develop the disease and what the relationship is between the amyloid deposits and the metabolites. At the present time, MR spectroscopy cannot be used for diagnosis.

More information: http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp, http://alzheimers.about.com/

Author: Piotr Łażewski-Banaszak

Source:
1. K. Kantarci, V. Lowe, S. A. Przybelski, M. L. Senjem, S. D. Weigand, R. J. Ivnik, R. Roberts, Y. E. Geda, B. F. Boeve, D. S. Knopman, R. C. Petersen, C. R. Jack, Jr. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, β-amyloid load, and cognition in a population-based sample of cognitively normal older adults. Neurology, 2011; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31822dc7e1
2. Jonathan M. Schott. Spectra to identify the spectre of Alzheimer disease? Neurology, 2011; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31822cfce6
3. American Academy of Neurology (2011, August 25). Study identifies chemical changes in brains of people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 28, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2011/08/110824192343.htm



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