Subtle symptom of Alzheimer ’s disease may show up much earlier than we thought . researcher are working on a memory and thinking test that could differentiate middle - elderly people if they ’re   potential to be name with Alzheimer ’s within the next two decades .

" The change in thought and retention that predate obvious symptom of Alzheimer ’s disease begin decades before,“Kumar Rajan of Rush University Medical Centersays in astatement . " While we can not presently discover such changes in individuals at risk , we were able-bodied to observe them among a group of individuals who eventually developed dementia due to Alzheimer ’s . " Their findings were published inNeurologylast week .

A total of 2,125 European - American and African - American residents of Chicago , who were 73 year old on average , fit to take a memory and thinking skills test every 3 years for 18 year . The participant were all 65 years or older at the beginning of the subject , and none of them had Alzheimer ’s . Over the course of the subject field , however , 23 % of the African - American recruits and 17 % of the European - American military recruit developed the disease .

The participant who had humble overall trial account depict an increased risk of exposure of developing Alzheimer ’s : During the first year , people who scored lower were 10 times more potential to be diagnosed than people with higher dozens . Furthermore , for test necessitate 13–18 years before the final assessment , one unit lower in performance of the similar cognitive mental test scotch   was link up to an 85 % groovy risk of succeeding dementedness .   As Rajan explains , this indicates that even subtle descent in cognitive function dissemble next peril .

As a soul develops Alzheimer ’s , certain forcible and biologic change may precede noticeable impairment in memory and cerebration . " If this is so , then these inherent unconscious process may have a very long duration,“Rajan add up . And the key to forestall the disease may be in understanding the processes that take spot before a somebody pass old age .