New Method for Early Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease might be helpful to set up intervention strategies aimed at preventing the onset of the disease. A group of researchers has identified 150 genes associated with healthy aging (i.e., the “healthy age gene score”) by assessing the presence of specific molecules (i.e., RNA) in the blood samples of healthy sedentary individuals who reached 65 years of age, compared with healthy 70-year-olds. The authors found that individuals with a high healthy age gene score showed better cognitive and renal function over a period of 12 years, while those developing Alzheimer's showed a lower healthy age gene score. This might represent a new noninvasive diagnostic tool for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, possibly allowing early preventive interventions.