Recent studies suggest that an inexpensive eye exam may eventually help diagnose Alzheimer’s a decade before symptoms are present.
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai and a company called Cognoptix have suggested that a variety of eye examines may be able to detect Alzheimer’s years before symptoms appear.
Such tests include measuring a protein in the retina, subtle eye flickers (saccadic movement), and blood vessel infrastructure. The costs of these tests could be 90% cheaper than current PET scans currently used.
A CNN report summarizes:
That is why recent research caught my attention. Studying cadavers, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles made an interesting observation: The amount of beta amyloid protein in the brain corresponded closely to the amount of that same protein in the retina, in the very back of the eye.
It makes sense because, as our bodies develop from embryos, the retina is ultimately formed from the same tissue that makes up the brain.
Based on that finding, the research team developed a noninvasive test to check the retina for the telltale beta amyloid plaques. They’re now conducting a clinical trial to see if the test can identify patients who are starting to develop Alzheimer’s but don’t show symptoms yet.
Source
- Can we predict Alzheimer’s a decade before symptoms? (Sanjay Gupta, CNN: August 18, 2013)
