Early diagnosis allows you to intervene at the most effective moment
An analysis of data from the UK biobank showed that people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other dementia-related symptoms started showing signs of brain disorders 9 years ago. Timothy Rittman, lecturer at the University of Cambridge in the UK and co-author of “Alzheimer’s and Dementia”, and Dr Timothy Rittman’s research findings were recently published in the health media “Medpage Today”.
The researchers found that people diagnosed with several neurodegenerative syndromes, including dementia, had changes in cognition and function 5 to 9 years before diagnosis. “We weren’t sure how soon we would detect such a change,” Littman said.
This study means that people at high risk of dementia can be screened early. “If we can know in advance if we will have dementia, we can treat it to delay the disease at its most effective time,” Littman said.
The subjects in this study were aged between 40 and 69 years in 2006-2010 and biometric data was available from the UK biobank. Next, the research team found 2,778 people with Alzheimer’s disease, 2,370 people with Parkinson’s disease, 211 people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP: Parkinson’s disease, showing gait disturbances, postural abnormalities). and eye movement disorders, etc.) Cognition and function were evaluated in 133 patients with Lewy body dementia (DLB) and 73 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Patient data were compared with cognitive and functional data from a control group of 493,735 who were not diagnosed with neurodegenerative disorders. People with Alzheimer’s disease have already shown differences in cognitive assessments and some bodily functions in the first data. They scored worse than the control group in terms of fluid intelligence, reaction time, numerical memory, and expected memory. The same was true for those diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.
People with Alzheimer’s have declined more in the past 12 months than in the control group. People diagnosed with PSP fell more than twice as many as controls.
Although this study set the stage for the prevention and modification of neurodegenerative diseases, it was assessed that the sample was limited. The researchers recognized the limitations, stating: ‘The UK biobank is geared towards a population with a low overall risk of disease and is not representative of different racial and socioeconomic classes.’
