People with Mild Cognitive Impairment who are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s could be spotted ten years before the disease develops according to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The research was undertaken at Lund University, Sweden involved 140 people with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

The spinal fluid of the participants involved in the clinical trial was tested for levels of proteins found in people with Alzheimer’s disease. The research found that over 90 per cent of participants who had low levels the proteins went on to develop Alzheimer’s within a ten-year period. Participants who had memory impairment but normal values for the proteins did not run a higher risk of getting the disease than healthy individuals.

Oskar Hansson, MD, PhD, ‘Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of ?-Amyloid 1-42, but Not of Tau, Are Fully Changed Already 5 to 10 Years Before the Onset of Alzheimer Dementia’. Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 69 No. 1, January 2012
https://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/69/1/98