پژوهش جدیدی آزمایش هایی مبتنی بر اسکن حافظه و مغز را شناسایی کرده است که به نظر می رسد می تواند با بهترین کارآیی پیش بینی کند که آیا کسی با ابتلا به چالش های شناختی ممکن است به بیماری آلزایمر مبتلا شود یا نه. این پژوهش در شماره آنلاین 30 جون 2010 نورولوژی، مجله علمی فرهنگستان (اکادمی) آمریکایی عصب شناسی انتشار یافت.
آزمایش های اسکن حافظه و مغز بر روی 85 نفر انجام شد که از اختلال خفیف شناختی (ام.سی.آی.) رنج می بردند. این افراد بخشی از یک مطالعه بزرگتر بودند که "تصویربرداری عصبی بیماری آلزایمر" نامیده می شود. آزمایش ها شامل آزمون حافظه ای اتفاقی بود که در آن شرکت کنندگان فهرستی از واژه ها را به درستی به یاد می آوردند. آزمایش خون گرفته شد تا مشخص شود که این افراد کدام شکل از ژن APOE را داشتند زیرا که شکلی از ژن با بیماری آلزایمر مرتبط است.
همچنین اسکن ام آر آی مغز هر بیمار برای اندازه گیری اندازه هیپوکامپ، قسمتی از مغز که عهده دار یادگیری و حافظه است، استفاده شد. پروتیین هایی، با نام های تائو یا بتا امیلوید، که تصور می شود در بیماری آلزایمر نقشی بر عهده دارد نیز اندازه گیری شد. در نهایت، اسکن مغزی پت گرفته شد تا نا به هنجاری های متابولیک در درون مغز که ممکن است نشانه بیماری آلزایمر باشد ردیابی شود.
سوزان ام. لاودن، دارنده دکترا و عضو دانشگاه کالیفرنیا در برکلی و عضو آکادمی آمریکایی نورولوژی اظهار داشت: "هر کدام از این آزمایش ها به صورت مستقل در پیش بینی گسترش بیماری آلزایمر نویدبخش بود، با این حال، تا پیش از تصویربرداری عصبی بیماری آلزایمر آنها هیچگاه در یک مطالعه با یکدیگر مقایسه نشده بود." ...
New Study Identifies Best Tests for Predicting Alzheimer's Disease
Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience; Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
MNT | Article Date: 01 Jul 2010 - 2:00 PDT
New research has identified the memory and brain scan tests that appear to predict best whether a person with cognitive problems might develop Alzheimer's disease. The research is published in the June 30, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Memory and brain scan tests were performed on 85 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who were part of a larger study called the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The tests included an episodic memory test, in which a participant must correctly recall a list of words. Blood tests were given to measure which form of the APOE gene people had, since one form of the gene is associated with Alzheimer's disease.
MRI brain scans were also used to measure the size of a participant's hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory. Proteins thought to play a role in Alzheimer's disease, called tau or beta-amyloid, were also measured. Finally, a PET brain scan was taken to detect metabolic abnormalities in the brain that might signal Alzheimer's disease.
"Each of these tests have independently shown promise in predicting disease progression, however, prior to the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, they had never been compared to one another in the same study before," said study author Susan M. Landau, PhD, with the University of California-Berkeley and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
Participants were between the ages of 55 and 90 and were followed for an average of 1.9 years. During that time, 28 of the participants developed Alzheimer's disease.
People who showed abnormal results on both PET scans and episodic memory tests were nearly 12 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who scored normally on both measures.
"Because people with MCI decline at different rates and some never go on to develop Alzheimer's disease, there is a need for tools that can better predict who might benefit most from treatment," said Landau. "When we compared all of the predictors, these two tests most accurately predicted who developed Alzheimer's."
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Dana Foundation.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 22,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, restless legs syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, narcolepsy and stroke.
Source: American Academy of Neurology (AAN)