BERLIN (Dispatches) --
Researchers have identified molecules in the blood that can indicate warning signs for dementia.
According to the study leader André Fischer from DZNE site in Göttingen (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases) and professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG),say that since when symptoms of dementia show, the brain has already been massively damaged and that currently diagnosis happens far too late to even have a chance for effective treatment.
The biomarker that the researchers have found is based on measuring so-called microRNAs in the blood. MicroRNAs are molecules with regulatory properties: they influence the production of proteins and thus a key process in the metabolism of every living being.
They finally identified three microRNAs whose levels were associated with mental performance. For this, they analyzed data from both young, cognitively normal individuals and from elderly people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).