In a new study, researchers developed procedures for defining the preclinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Since there are no current treatments to reverse the course of Alzheimer’s, this finding can help drug developers identify who could potentially benefit from a future Alzheimer’s treatment before symptoms of cognitive decline start to arise.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Missouri.
Defined by cognitive changes that impact one’s ability to complete basic activities in daily life, dementia is most commonly caused by Alzheimer’s disease.
It is a brain disorder where a buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain leads to memory loss and other cognitive issues.
In the study, the team looked at datasets from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center.
They examined more than 400 people who had been declared “cognitively normal,” and particularly focused on 101 of these individuals who had a buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
They found that those with the amyloid plaque in their brain were more likely to show Alzheimer’s-related symptoms compared to those without the amyloid plaque, as expected.
More significantly, they found that 42% of those with the amyloid plaque showed no signs of cognitive decline at all.
The study developed clear procedures for classifying people who are asymptomatic or symptomatic in the preclinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease
This is important because if a drug to treat Alzheimer’s is approved by the FDA down the road, the drug will likely be most effective on those with Alzheimer’s-related changes in the brain but no outward signs of cognitive decline yet.
If those with Alzheimer’s-related brain pathology and outward signs of cognitive decline take a proposed Alzheimer’s drug in the future, it is possible it will be ineffective because the disease will not be able to reverse course once symptoms start to show up.
Therefore, the research can help the developers of future drugs designed to treat Alzheimer’s disease or dementia know what type of people to include in their clinical trials.
One author of the study is Andrew Kiselica, an assistant professor of health psychology.
The study is published in Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders.
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