Could
An Eye Doctor Diagnose Alzheimer’s Before You Have Symptoms?
A recent study published by Duke University
researchers in the journal Retina suggests that an observed loss of blood vessels in retina
may reflect changes in brain health and could signal Alzheimer’s disease. In
people with healthy brains, microscopic blood vessels form a dense web at the
back of the eye inside the retina. In the eyes of people with Alzheimer’s
disease, that web was less dense and even sparse in places. The differences in
density were statistically significant after researchers controlled for factors
including age, sex, and level of education. The study measured blood vessels
that can’t be seen during a regular eye exam using noninvasive technology that
takes high-resolution images of very small blood vessels within the retina in
just a few minutes, called Optical Coherence Tomography-Angiography (OCT-A).
They concluded that it’s possible that these changes in blood vessel density in
the retina could mirror what’s going on in the tiny blood vessels in the brain,
perhaps before we are able to detect any changes in cognition.
With nearly 6 million
Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease and no viable treatments or
noninvasive tools for early diagnosis, its burden on families and the economy
is heavy. Scientists at have studied other changes in the retina that could
signal trouble upstream in the brain, such as thinning of some of the retinal
nerve layers. The goal would be to use this technology to detect Alzheimer’s
early, before symptoms of memory loss are evident, and be able to monitor these
changes over time in participants of clinical trials studying new Alzheimer’s
treatments.
Please
mention any concerns you have about Alzheimer’s during your regular eye exam.
To learn more about new technology and examination techniques we are using,
please just ask us at your scheduled appointment. Schedule your exam at D’Ambrosio Eye
Care at 800-325-3937, visit D’Ambrosio
Eye Care,
or facebook.com/dambrosioeyecare so that we can help.
D'Ambrosio Eye Care provides eye care for patients throughout
greater Boston, central and western Massachusetts with office locations at 479 Old
Union Turnpike, Lancaster, Massachusetts 01523, 865 Merriam Avenue, Suite 119,
Leominster, Massachusetts 01453, 100 Powder Mill Road, Acton, Massachusetts
01720, 413 Main Street, Athol, Massachusetts 01331, 74 Main Street, Gardner,
Massachusetts 01440 and 255 Park Avenue, Suite 606, Worcester, Massachusetts
01609
