Diagnose Alzheimer’s before its symptoms become apparent. This is the goal that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California set itself, by carrying out a study of 86 deceased patients who had been diagnosed with the disease or mild cognitive impairment before they died.
The importance of an eye examination
The study showed that the human eye can show early signs of disease long before symptoms become apparent. In the scientific journal Acta Neuropathologica, the Los Angeles-based team then explained how from the analysis of the eyes and tissue of 86 deceased patients suffering from the disease, it is possible to make a diagnosis on people who have not yet developed the symptoms of Alzheimers. An eye examination would thus become essential to detect the disease in advance, since according to the study there is a significant increase in beta-amyloid, a key marker of Alzheimer’s disease, in people suffering from the disease and early cognitive decline.