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Posted on Jul 28, 2008, 8 p.m.
By Jeanelle Topping
Risk of Alzheimer's disease can be detected in patients long before they show any signs of having the condition, according to the latest research.
Risk of Alzheimer's disease can be detected in patients long before they show any signs of having the condition, according to the latest research.
Scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, found that changes in the brains of people whose parents had Alzheimer's could be identified at an early age.
According to the study, MRI scans show that the brains of those who carry the APOE-4 gene - which heightens the risk of developing Alzheimer's - did not link the hippocampus and the posterior cingulated cortex as well as those without the gene.
The results showed that connectivity between these brain parts, which are crucial for memory as well as gaining information, was 65 per cent better in those lacking APOE-4.
Those carrying this gene may not show any symptoms of Alzheimer's but this reduced functional brain connectivity could see them affected in later life.
"Just as if cancer could be detected when there were only a few cells, decades before it was evident, the advantage of identifying those at great risk for having Alzheimer's would be of tremendous value in development of interventional therapies," says Shi Jiang, professor of biophysics, who led the research.
Today, a separate study claimed that taking cholesterol-lowering drugs could help prevent Alzheimer's from developing. 
