A recent study has shown that people with Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impairment have higher levels of beta-amyloid in their retinal and brain tissues. According to Alzheimer’s preventive neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson, this disease develops decades before the first symptoms of memory loss appear. Therefore, if it is possible to detect the disease in its early stages, patients could begin to treat it much earlier and control the risk factors that influence the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study, published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, analyzed retinal and brain tissue from 86 people with varying degrees of cognitive impairment to learn how early signs of Alzheimer’s can be detected. The researchers found that people with mild cognitive impairment and late-stage Alzheimer’s had higher levels of beta-amyloid, a key marker of the disease. They also found 80% fewer microglial cells, which maintain and repair other cells, in people with cognitive impairment.
In addition, the researchers found a greater number of immune cells around beta-amyloid plaques. According to the study’s lead author, Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui, these changes in the retina correlated with changes in parts of the brain called the entorhinal and temporal cortices, which are centers for memory, navigation, and time perception.
In summary, these findings suggest that new eye tests may be well positioned to aid in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and monitor its progression noninvasively by looking through the eye. In addition, these results may also lead to the development of imaging techniques that will make it possible to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease earlier and more accurately in the future.