It's estimated that more than 5 million adults in the United States suffer from Alzheimer's. And by 2050, that number is expected to double, with around 13+ million likely to be suffering from this potentially fatal disease.

For the United States, about 1 out of every 9 Americans, over the age of 65, has Alzheimer's disease. However, only about 1 in 4 people who have the disease, have been diagnosed with it.

Alzheimer's is known as the most common form of dementia, one for which there is currently said to be no cure and no preventative drug.

At the moment, doctors use PET scans and CSF testing in order to diagnose, though these methods are relatively costly and seen as very invasive.

Thankfully, diagnostic methods have drastically improved over the years and now, researchers believe that perhaps the disease might be spotted many years before any symptoms even begin to appear.

Researchers from Australia and Japan have developed a new method for screening that is faster, cheaper, noninvasive, and easily scalable. It's a new blood test that looks for a key indicator that's believed to be closely linked to the onset of Alzheimer's; amyloid beta deposits.

testing with over 90 percent accuracy...

As we age, these proteins are believed by some to build up in the brain and this can then cause unwanted and extensive damage. This new test has been regarded as a much more efficient blood test and researchers say it's just as good as any of the current brain scan methods that are used.

With this new blood test development, there might be a lot of promise, but they are still quite some time away from clinical application. And it still isn't a 100 percent definitive test to determine early onset of the disease, it only highlights the potential risk of developing the illness.

This new blood test hasn't been the only development in the way of trying to improve screening, tracking, and monitoring of the disease.

In London, researchers there also believe that something like a simple memory test might help to spot Alzheimer's years before any issues related to symptoms arise.

In The Lancet Neurology, they've published their findings which demonstrate that a memory test might be able to pick up early signs of dementia.

Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania published their results just last year about the potential for a sniff test to help in detecting Alzheimer's disease. This is because the sense of smell is believed to greatly decline during the early stages of the disease.

Other exciting research in the filed centers around the possibility that cannabis might be able to provide some help to those suffering. CBD specifically is what researchers think might be beneficial in helping to treat a variety of illness, including Alzheimer's, tourette syndrome, and more.

Until now, no medicine has been able to slow the progression of the illness and because of the difficulty that's been seen with attempts to try and control the illness and alleviate symptoms, researchers have instead shifted their focus to prevention of the disease.

The key, say those in the field, is in early intervention before the brain damage is too extensive.

A Solution In Exercise?

New research, which involved a review of 18 previous studies on the subject, suggests that light aerobic exercise might be the key to preventing the disease and improving cognition.

The results were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The studies that researchers reviewed had included more than 1,100 adults, many who were over the age of 70. Not all of them had been diagnosed as having Alzheimer's however, about 65 percent were only reported as being at risk of the disease.

They found that for the adults who exercised that they saw a distinct improvement in their cognitive function.

An adequate amount of exercise they suggest, based on previous WHO recommendations, would include something around at least 150 minutes every week engaged in brisk walking, along with at least 1hr or more doing intense aerobic exercise training.

According to their results, researchers propose that aerobic exercise might be more effective than other types of exercise when it comes to trying to prevent cognitive decline.

And as far as helping those who've been diagnosed already, to try and navigate their daily life, there isn't really much out there on the market as far as apps that might be able to help them.

At least that's what 14-year-old Emma Yang discovered when she set out to develop her own app that could help Alzheimer's patients some day.

Yang, who experienced seeing her own grandmother go through the viscous struggle, it ignited a passion in her to try and come up with an idea that might help people. Yang created an app that uses facial recognition and AI, to help those suffering with Alzheimer's to try and cope with the illness.

The app which is still in development, referred to as Timeless, helps patients to scroll through pictures of family and friends and it helps them to recognize who the person is, it will tell them how they are related. If the patient has the app and they are in a room with someone who they don't recognize, they can take a picture and the app will help to identify that person for them. It can also help with setting daily reminders, appointments, and more.

Pics:
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via Physical Therapy Products
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The information that is posted above is not intended to be used as any substitute for professional medical advice, or diagnosis or treatment. The above is posted for informational purposes only.

Sources:
https://www.alzheimers.net/resources/alzheimers-statistics/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/05/26/u-s-death-rate-for-alzheimers-rose-dramatically-over-15-years-why/?utm_term=.4cddeca6fa16
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2131519/simple-alzheimers-disease-blood-test-thats-90-cent-accurate
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/01/national/science-health/japanese-researchers-develop-cheap-easy-way-diagnose-alzheimers-via-simple-blood-test/#.WnioHnQUmpo
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2131519/simple-alzheimers-disease-blood-test-thats-90-cent-accurate
http://myfox8.com/2018/02/04/blood-test-detects-proteins-linked-to-alzheimers-disease/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4390027/
http://www.newsweek.com/2017/02/24/stopping-alzheimers-disease-it-starts-557221.html
https://www.fastcompany.com/40519094/a-14-year-old-made-an-app-to-help-alzheimers-patients-recognize-their-loved-ones
https://www.pinnaclecares.com/medical-news-today-aerobic-exercise-may-be-key-for-alzheimers-prevention/
http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/aerobic-exercise-cognitive-symptoms-alzheimers-disease-05679.html

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