Brain Scan May Predict Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's Association
Monday, 22 June 1998

New research suggests a brain imaging technology known as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), which measures blood flow in the brain, may identify people with memory problems that will progress to Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

"This is a very encouraging study because it indicates it is possible to detect the disease early in its process," said Zaven Khachaturian, Ph.D., director of the Association's Ronald & Nancy Reagan Research Institute. "It confirms there are measurable changes in the brain that may be able to predict Alzheimer's disease."

The researchers studied 136 elderly people, 18 of whom progressed from mild memory loss to probable Alzheimer's disease over a two-year follow-up period. SPECT data for more than 80 percent of these 18 individuals, taken at the beginning of the study, showed reduced readings in four areas of the brain, three of which are related to memory, when compared with people who did not become demented. The researchers say this may indicate that these areas are among the first affected in early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

"As better treatments for Alzheimer's disease become available — treatments that can delay the onset of the disease or slow its progression — it will become increasingly important to detect Alzheimer's early in the disease process," Khachaturian said. "This will enable treatment to begin at the earliest possible time and have the greatest effect."

"We hope the technology will continue to improve to allow detection even earlier," Khachaturian said. "Preclinical prediction of Alzheimer's disease using SPECT," by Keith Johnson, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and colleagues, appeared in the June 1998 issue of Neurology. The work was funded by grants from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health. Marilyn Albert, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital, a co-author of the study, is a member of the Association's Medical and Scientific Advisory Council.

For more information, or to contact Alzheimer's Association, see their website at: www.alz.org