New-fangled Study show PET Brain Scans Detect Alzheimer’s Disease Early on

A team of Investigators from the NYU Langone Medical Center stated that their study findings indicate that individuals having a family history of Alzheimer’s disease mostly possess clump-like formations of toxic-natured protein accruement in their brains even despite being in normal health.

Study investigators stated that their findings could pave way to novel means of identifying individuals at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease early on when some steps could be taken towards tackling it.

Researchers are hopeful that this study outcome could imminently be of great help in lucidly diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease prior to the condition turning symptomatic and when the brain is still in good health and therapies could have the most optimal outcomes.

The group of scientists are intent on continually following the entrants of this latest study for observing if they would be developing dementia and would like to duplicate the outcomes in a more large-scaled trial. Numerous research groups have been endeavouring for improved means of early detection of Alzheimer’s disease in the anticipation of creating medicines that could combat the condition prior to it causing significant harm.

Present therapies are inept at reversing the course of the disease, a mind-raiding dementia-type afflicting over twenty-six million individuals worldwide.

The researchers employed an imaging method known as PET or positron emission tomography and a fluorescent dye known as Pittsburgh Compound B which could ably show up protein clump formations, the beta amyloid which is a trait of the disease.

The study group captured brain images of forty-two study entrants averaging sixty-five years of age with healthy brain functioning. From them, fourteen of them had mothers having the disease while fourteen of them had fathers having Alzheimer’s disease and fourteen entrants had parents with normal brain functioning.

Brain scanning of all the entrants revealed that those who had parents (mother or father) having Alzheimer’s disease were more prone to exhibit amyloid plaque formations in their brains. This finding was especially exact in case of those individuals who had mothers with the disease. Such individuals had nearly twenty percent greater amyloid beta plaque depositions in their brains and were nearly four folds at higher risk for having such plaque accumulation.

The study outcomes corroborate other researches that indicate that having a mother who has Alzheimer’s disease could be a significant risk aspect. A maternal history of the disease could raise the chances of amyloid beta plaque and a decrease in brain activities is significantly more in comparison to having a father with the disease.

Subsequent to advanced aging, a family history of the disease is the singular major risk aspect for getting Alzheimer’s disease.

However, the researchers pointed out that beta amyloid plaque presence is not always an indicator of the brain surely developing Alzheimer’s disease, however it does raise the risk.