Experts are issuing a warning: the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease could emerge up to 20 years before noticeable memory loss occurs, a finding that could transform approaches to combatting the UK’s top cause of death.
A significant study indicates that difficulties with spatial awareness, including challenges in navigation or standing too close to others, may appear long before the traditional symptoms of memory impairment and confusion.
Researchers from Seattle have extensively studied the brains of 84 individuals who were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after their deaths, uncovering alarming evidence of neuron death preceding observable damage seen on brain scans. By utilizing cutting-edge machine learning techniques, the team monitored the well-known Alzheimer’s-related proteins tau and amyloid, discovering that even minute quantities can adversely affect vital inhibitory neurons.
Dr. Mariano Gabitto, a specialist in neuroscience, emphasized the importance of these findings, stating, “Identifying the earliest neurons lost could be crucial for developing therapeutic interventions to protect them and prevent further cognitive decline.”