The early diagnosis of amyloid plaques in the brain, signs of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, makes it possible to improve the medical care of patients.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently managed to gradually eliminate amyloid plaques in mice, thanks to light therapy and ultrasound. The study, published in Cellgives hope for the future of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, because the formation of amyloid plaques (or “senile plaques”) in the brain is the sign of the onset of the disease.
A new study, conducted by researchers at the University of California and published in the journal JAMAdemonstrates that if doctors do a PET scan and observe the formation of amyloid plaques very early on, patient care is better.
Amyloid plaques detected in many cases
To carry out this study, the researchers analyzed data from 11,409 people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. The patients were 75 years old on average. Using the PET scan, doctors detected amyloid plaques in 55.3% of people with mild cognitive impairment and in 70.1% of people with dementia. The researchers then found that within 90 days of the PET scan, patient management changed in 60.2% of patients with mild cognitive impairment and 63.5% of patients with dementia.
Better patient care
The PET scan is a medical imaging examination that measures the metabolic or molecular activity of an organ in three dimensions. It is able to detect amyloid plaques in the brain, and therefore the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers indeed observed changes between the medical visits before the PET scan and those after the PET scan. Some patients were prescribed certain medications, others received information and advice. In the study’s conclusions, the researchers state that more research is needed to see if early diagnosis of amyloid plaques results in better outcomes for patients’ health status.
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