Todd Neale a staff writer for Medpage Today reported on a series of new tests to determine if a person will develop Alzheimers. The full Alzheimers article is here. The Chicago Medical Examiner also adds that the study which was recently evaluated featured 3,000 subjects who did not have alzheimers at the start but around 480 of whom developed this condition. A 15 point index was 88% accurate in identifying a patients risk of developing Alzheimers within 6 years.
Every 70 seconds another person develops Alzheimers an incurable degenrative disease which accounts for most of the cases of dimentia. There are currently 5.3 million people who have Alzheimers most of whom are at least 65 years of age.
The dimentia index takes into account various factors aside from the obvious factor of age it is more likely for those who have lower cognitive scores on tests, who are below normal weight, who do not drink alcohol, and who have slow fine motor coordination which is judged by having people button a shirt, they also look at changes in the brain which could be determined by medical imaging among other criteria for testing Alzheimers.
