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American scientists have learned to identify a dangerous disease in the eyes

Американские ученые научились определять опасную болезнь по глазамNow the deadly disease can be determined just by looking in his eyes.

A team of American scientists used the method of scanning laser ophthalmoscopy for the detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

After analyzing the retina ten patients and six healthy people, they found that the presence of plaques of beta-amyloid (a protein that plays an important role in the process of neurodegeneration) is 40 percent higher in patients showing symptoms of the disease. The article was published in the journal JCI Insight.

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Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases affecting the elderly. The main symptoms include serious memory impairment and other cognitive functions. The exact causes of and effective methods for the treatment and prevention of this disease is still unknown. Significant role in the development of the disease play a accumulation in the brain of patients of amyloid plaques, composed of the protein beta-amyloid, which cause degeneration of tissues. Traces of this protein were also found in ganglionic cells of the retina, containing the photosensitive pigment melanopsin, and named the cause of disruption of circadian rhythms is one of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. However, studies showing the effectiveness of amyloid plaques in the retinas of people who are at risk of the appearance of the disease, so far not been conducted.

The creators of the work conducted a study, which could identify the presence of beta-amyloid plaques in patients with Alzheimer’s. Before the experiment, they analyzed the brain tissue and retina of 23 patients and 14 healthy individuals for the presence of amyloid plaques. Postmortem analysis revealed the presence of plaques in the brain and retina of patients with Alzheimer’s during life, while the analysis of the brain of healthy people pointed out their absence. This allowed the scientists to conclude that the presence of beta amyloid plaques in the retina indicates their presence in the brain of patients.

After that, the researchers conducted an analysis of the retina of the living people (ten people with the symptoms early signs of Alzheimer’s disease and six healthy participants) for the presence of beta-amyloid plaques. Scientists used a technique called scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (eng. scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, abbreviated as SLO) and curcumin (a natural substance that can bind to amyloid fibers) as a contrast agent. The analysis showed that the indicator of the presence of beta-amyloid plaques in the retinas of patients is 40 percent higher than the level in the retinas of healthy people of the same age group. In addition, the analysis of the retina of a patient with dementia, is not a sign of the presence of Alzheimer’s disease, showed the presence of beta-amyloid plaques in the normal range (at the level of a healthy person).

The authors indicate the possibility of using scanning laser ophthalmoscopy to detect early symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases. Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease may help in identifying risk groups and administered by known methods of prevention in the early stages of the disease.

Scientists are actively searching possible causes of the disease. So, in our article you can read about how in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s, discovered the bacteria that also cause acne, and here about the possible reasons for the appearance of plaques of beta-amyloid and their role in the spread of the disease.

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