The “Brink of Understanding” of Alzheimer’s Disease

The Denver Post ran an article on Sunday January 4, 2015 about early detection of Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease researchers pursue early detection reports about the work researchers have done that has led the, according to one scientist to “the brink of understanding.” Researchers at the U. of Colorado in Boulder have been working diligently, with a new drug trial and a proposal for “a federally funded research center…” The article quotes an expert from the Alzheimer’s Association about how early detection is so important:

“There’s broad recognition now that the brain changes that lead to Alzheimer’s disease occur long before there are any symptoms,” [Dr. Keith] Fargo said. “By the time changes in cognitive abilities are evident, you have lost a lot of brain cells, and much of what is going to happen with Alzheimer’s disease has already happened.”

Dr. Fargo goes on to note that it may take 10-20 years before it’s actually found and by then, it’s too late to undo the damage. Thus the race to find a way to diagnose Alzheimer’s before the symptoms  show up.  The article discusses the work researchers are doing to figure out ways to detect the disease early on. These range from using PET scans to blood tests to “genetic profiling.” The trial starting at U. of Colorado involves the “protein released in the brain of people with rheumatoid arthritis. They don’t develop the disease.” Another interesting area of research involves the sense of smell:  those individuals who aren’t good at “identifying smells are at high risk of Alzheimer’s… [since the] cranial nerve that affects the olfactory sense is one of the first areas involved in brain degeneration.”

This is one race we want the researchers to win-soon.