HOUSTON: The best-known genetic variant linked to Alzheimer’s disease may be “at work” promoting deposits of plaque in the brain long before any symptoms of the disease can be measured on tests, according to a national research study.
In a research paper, the scientists provide additional evidence for focusing research, and eventually treatment, on people at risk of Alzheimer’s long before the disease is diagnosed.
The study focused on people with “significant memory concerns,” defined as older adults who complained that they had mentally slipped in recent months or years, but when given standard cognition and memory tests they fell within normal ranges. People in this category have also been called the “subjective cognitive decline” group by Alzheimer’s researchers.