A New Test to Predict Alzheimer’s in LaGrange, IL.

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.

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.

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.

Bottom line 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.

 

For more information on this article click on this link: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1898034,00.html

 

Posted on 15 May 2009 | Category: Alzheimer's

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