Italian researchers develop tests revealing who will fall ill

Researchers from the Foundation of the Catholic University Policlinico Gemelli Irccs, in collaboration with the Irccs S. Raffaele Pisani, developed a simple and non-invasive test able to predict who will get sick ] dementia . In this sense, it is enough for a simple blood test and an electroencephalogram . The research was coordinated by Paolo Maria Rossini, who is director of the neuroscience field at Gemelli, as well as professor of neurology at the Catholic University of Rome. Rossini explains that these two simple tests provide important information: the blood collection gives information at a genetic level, while the electroencephalogram provides important data on cerebral connectivity.

The combined information provided by both tests is therefore able to predict with great precision whether a person is at risk of developing dementia [VIDEO]

Who is the test

The test is about people presenting a mild cognitive deficit is about 735 000 patients in our country, of which only half, a few years after diagnosis, will have an evolution of this disorder developing a form of dementia more complex. The researchers involved 145 patients who were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment ; they were monitored over the next two years to see who developed the dementia. At the end of these two years of observation, dementia was developed by 71 patients, while the remaining 74 remained stable.

This combined test may therefore offer diagnostic benefits, since it could allow skimming of the population for the first time. If, for example, a person with mild cognitive impairment measurable with neuropsychological examinations, is also positive in the double test [VIDEO] then it will be possible to perform more specific tests such as lumbar puncture In particular Rossini explains that, in this way, two advantages can be obtained fundamentally: on the one hand, the disadvantages due to invasive testing for patients who are not intended to develop dementia, on the other hand, would be avoided. pharmacological treatment could already be started in this phase, since the therapeutic strategy is more effective if the drugs are administered prematurely. In addition, early drug treatment, badociated with the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, may delay the onset of the disease and may slow the rate of progression. The results of this study were published in the scientific journal Annals of Neurology.