New research suggests that a simple saliva test may someday be able to tell if a person is at risk of developing Alzheimer's, HealthDay News reported.
The early detection of Alzheimer's related symptoms is critically important for individuals with the disease. However, many diagnosis techniques can be costly or invasive. Saliva is simple to obtain, easily transportable, and has been successfully used in a variety of diseases and conditions.
"Saliva is easily obtained, safe and affordable, and has promising potential for predicting and tracking cognitive decline, but we're in the very early stages of this work and much more research is needed," researcher Shraddha Sapkota said in a statement.
For the study, researchers examined the saliva of 22 people with Alzheimer's disease, 25 people with mild cognitive impairment, and 35 people who are aging normally without the two disorders or with "mental skills [that are] normal for their age," HealthDay reported.
In their analysis, researchers identified substances in the saliva that differentiated among the three groups. Compared to the saliva of healthy people or those with mild cognitive impairment, the saliva of those with Alzheimer's "had different levels of certain substances," HealthDay reported.
For example, higher levels of one substance in the mild cognitive impairment group and another in the Alzheimer's group were observed. When these were examined in those who are aging normally, higher levels of both predicted worse episodic memory performance. Another substance with higher levels in the Alzheimer's group predicted slower speed in processing information.
The findings were "to be" presented Sunday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Washington, D.C.
