Senior Moment … or Alzheimer’s Disease?

While it has been commonplace for the medical profession to dismiss mild slips of memory as a normal part of aging, advancements in early diagnostics may redefine these occurrences as an early sign of Alzheimer’s Disease.  Rebecca Amariglio, from Brigham and Women's Hospital (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues took a sample of 189 clinically normal adults over age 65 and asked them questions about their memories, and also conducted brain scans using a radioactive tracer that can detect the presence of a protein called beta amyloid that is considered an early sign of Alzheimer's disease.  The researchers found that the people who reported the most trouble with their memories also had amyloid buildup in their brains, leading the lead investigator to posit that: "Subjective concerns may be an early indicator of Alzheimer's pathology."