Signs of Alzheimer's disease may be present decades before diagnosis

August 11, 2008

Scientists from the University of South Florida and the University of Kentucky report that people who develop Alzheimer's disease may show signs of this illness many decades earlier in life, including compromised educational achievement. Their research appears online this month in the journal Alzheimer's Disease and Associated Disorders.

Participants in the Nun Study were studied to identify those who became demented before death or had characteristic brain changes of Alzheimer's disease at autopsy. Among nuns who became demented or had evidence of Alzheimer's disease at autopsy, those with small head sizes had significantly lower educational achievement in earlier adult life. In those dying without a dementia diagnosis or autopsy evidence of Alzheimer's disease, head size had no relationship with education.

Adult head size can be used to estimate the size of the fully-developed brain. Previous studies have found that clinical expression of Alzheimer's disease is related to head size, with people having smaller heads more likely to show the characteristic symptoms of this illness. Larger brains provide reserve against Alzheimer's, allowing people to function normally despite having considerable Alzheimer pathology in their brains.

"If brain damage related to Alzheimer's disease begins earlier in adult life, then having less reserve due to a smaller brain could compromise intellectual ability in those destined to get Alzheimer's and lead to them getting less education," said lead author James Mortimer, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology at USF. "Although it has been known for many years that individuals with lower education have a greater risk of getting Alzheimer's, this is the first report showing that reduced educational attainment may actually be an early sign of the underlying disease."

The study findings add to others showing that individuals who will eventually develop Alzheimer's differ from those who don't many decades before. In 1996, the Nun Study found that Alzheimer's disease with onset in old age could be predicted accurately from characteristics of autobiographical essays written at an average age of 22. Other studies have shown that those who develop Alzheimer's have specific deficits on tests of memory and thinking decades before the disease is diagnosed. The fact that subtle signs of Alzheimer's appear many years before symptoms appear may be useful for predicting who is at risk of the illness and identifying individuals earlier in life who could benefit from preventive therapies.

The Nun Study, begun in 1992, is a study of 678 Catholic sisters, initially 75 to 102 years of age, who were evaluated annually for dementia and who agreed to brain donation at the time of their deaths. The study is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging.

Source: University of South Florida

4.8 /5 (20 votes)  

Rank 4.8 /5 (20 votes)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Study finds that anti-diabetic medication can prevent the long-term effects of maternal obesity

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that show that short therapy with the anti-diabetic medication ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Feb 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice

Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (53) | comments 21 | with audio podcast

Green tea found to reduce disability in the elderly

(Medical Xpress) -- A lot of research has been done over the past several years looking into the health benefits of green tea. As a result, scientists have found that regular consumption of the beverage leads ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 11 | with audio podcast report

Teen school drop-outs three times as likely to be on benefits in later life

Teen school drop-outs are almost three times as likely to be on benefits in later life as their peers who complete their schooling, indicates research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 12

To perform with less effort, practice beyond perfection

Whether you are an athlete, a musician or a stroke patient learning to walk again, practice can make perfect, but more practice may make you more efficient, according to a surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (15) | comments 6 | with audio podcast


Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...

Latin America mining boom clashes with conservation

Latin America is experiencing a mining boom as prices rise fuelled by a hike in global demand, but the region is also being hit by a wave of violent protests, strikes and rallies by environmentalists.

Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...

Love a click away in Indonesia's Twitter Republic

He was a geeky kid from Yogyakarta, she a glamorous city girl in Jakarta. In a country with one of the world's most vibrant social networking scenes they fell in love on Twitter.

Europeans protest controversial Internet pact

Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.

Navy to begin tests on electromagnetic railgun prototype launcher

The Office of Naval Research (ONR)'s Electromagnetic (EM) Railgun program will take an important step forward in the coming weeks when the first industry railgun prototype launcher is tested at a facility ...