Biomarker in urine -the first to reveal early-stage Alzheimer's disease? - Video

Published On 2022-12-02T09:15:59+05:30 | Updated On 2 Dec 2022 9:15 AM IST

Overview

Alzheimer's disease can remain undetected until it is too late to treat. Large-scale screening programs could help to detect early-stage disease, but current diagnostic methods are too cumbersome and expensive. Could a simple urine test reveal if someone has early-stage Alzheimer's disease and could this pave the way for large-scale screening programs?

A new study published to Frontiers is the first to identify formic acid as a sensitive urinary biomarker that can reveal early-stage Alzheimer's disease, potentially paving the way for inexpensive and convenient disease screening.

The researchers tested a large group of patients with Alzheimer's disease of different levels of severity and healthy controls with normal cognition to identify differences in urinary biomarkers.

They found that urinary formic acid is a sensitive marker of subjective cognitive decline that may indicate the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Current methods to diagnose Alzheimer's are expensive, inconvenient, and unsuitable for routine screening. This means that most patients only receive a diagnosis when it is too late for effective treatment. However, a non-invasive, inexpensive, and convenient urine test for formic acid could be just what the doctor ordered for early screening.

Alzheimer's disease is a continuous and concealed chronic disease, meaning that it can develop and last for many years before obvious cognitive impairment emerges. The early stages of the disease occur before the irreversible dementia stage, and this is the golden window for intervention and treatment. Therefore, large-scale screening for early-stage Alzheimer's disease is necessary for the elderly.

Urinary formic acid showed an excellent sensitivity for early Alzheimer's screening. "The detection of urine biomarkers of Alzheimer's is convenient and cost-effective, and it should be performed during routine physical examinations of the elderly.

Reference:

Biomarker in urine could be the first to reveal early-stage Alzheimer's disease; Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, DOI:10.3389/fnagi.2022.1046066.

Speakers

Dr. Nandita Mohan

BDS, MDS( Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry)

Dr. Nandita Mohan is a practicing pediatric dentist with more than 5 years of clinical work experience. Along with this, she is equally interested in keeping herself up to date about the latest developments in the field of medicine and dentistry which is the driving force for her to be in association with Medical Dialogues. She also has her name attached with many publications; both national and international. She has pursued her BDS from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore and later went to enter her dream specialty (MDS) in the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry from Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences. Through all the years of experience, her core interest in learning something new has never stopped. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751