Originally published August 6 2005
Early warning signs of Alzheimer's
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
An exhaustive search for clues has uncovered a set of warning sign symptoms for Alzheimer's disease that occur before the illness is diagnosed.
The first hints of impending Alzheimer's include not just forgetfulness but lags in attention and other subtle problems that can show up 10 years before an official diagnosis, a study out Monday says.
The new report underscores the scientific view that Alzheimer's begins to injure the brain years before the hallmark symptoms of severe memory loss appear, says William Thies, spokesman for the Chicago-based Alzheimer's Association.
Very early identification of Alzheimer's could become even more important in the future if researchers develop therapies that delay this degenerative brain disease, he says.
Lars B�ckman of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and his colleagues grouped together the findings from 47 scientific studies.
They compared them with 9,097 older people who had been given the same tests but who stayed healthy.
The team's meta-analysis, a powerful statistical method that culls results from many studies, revealed that the people who would later develop Alzheimer's showed small deficits in memory, a finding that fits with what is known about the way Alzheimer's affects the brain.
Full-blown Alzheimer's attacks the hippocampus, the brain's memory region, B�ckman says.
But at very early stages, the disease has yet to produce serious damage: Thus forgetfulness is minor, he says.
For example, people might have trouble remembering what they had for breakfast but can still keep track of important appointments.
The team also found a raft of other difficulties, a finding that suggests the disease attacks other brain regions as well.
For example, people destined to get Alzheimer's scored poorly on tests of executive function, the ability to plan ahead or multitask.
The people who ended up with Alzheimer's also took longer to solve problems and did a little worse on tests of verbal ability, B�ckman and his colleagues report in the July Neuropsychology.
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