Most people think dementia begins when memory starts to fail, but scientists have learned that the disease develops silently for many years before the first forgotten name or missed appointment.
During this hidden stage, changes are already taking place inside the brain. Finding these changes early is one of the biggest goals in dementia research because earlier treatment has a much better chance of protecting brain function.
A new study published in Science Advances suggests that a blood protein called GDF15 may become an important early warning signal.
GDF15 is a protein released by cells when they are under stress. It is linked with aging, inflammation, metabolism, and several chronic diseases. Researchers wondered whether higher levels of this protein might also signal that the brain is becoming vulnerable to dementia long before symptoms appear.
The research team studied health information from more than 500,000 people who were followed for between 15 and 25 years. Participants from the United States, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Japan, and other countries had blood samples collected and were monitored to see who eventually developed dementia.
The scientists also examined brain scans and spinal fluid results in some participants to better understand what was happening inside the brain.
Across every group studied, higher GDF15 levels were linked with a greater chance of developing dementia. The strongest relationship was found for vascular dementia, which develops when blood vessels in the brain become damaged. The link with Alzheimer’s disease was weaker but still present.
Brain imaging provided additional evidence. Even people who had normal memory showed more shrinkage of brain tissue and more damage to small blood vessels if their GDF15 levels were high. This suggests that the protein may reflect very early brain injury that develops years before symptoms become obvious.
The scientists also carried out laboratory experiments to understand how GDF15 affects the body. They exposed human immune cells to the protein and found that it changed the cells’ metabolism while reducing their ability to fight viral infections.
These findings raise the possibility that GDF15 is more than a simple marker of disease and may actually contribute to processes involved in brain aging.
One of the biggest advantages of this discovery is that it involves a blood test. Current methods for detecting Alzheimer’s disease often require expensive brain scans or spinal fluid tests, which are not practical for screening large numbers of healthy people.
A blood test would be much easier to perform during routine health examinations if future research confirms its usefulness.
The authors emphasize that more studies are needed before GDF15 testing becomes part of everyday medical care. They need to confirm the results in more diverse populations and determine exactly how the protein influences brain health. They also need to learn whether lowering GDF15 or treating the underlying causes of high levels could reduce dementia risk.
Overall, this study adds to growing evidence that dementia begins decades before symptoms appear. The findings suggest that GDF15 could become an important tool for identifying people at higher risk while there is still time to intervene.
Although it is too early for routine testing, the research moves scientists one step closer to detecting dementia earlier and developing treatments that may slow or even prevent future memory loss.
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Source: Science Advances / study led by international researchers.
