A five-minute scan could be used to detect people at risk of dementia before any symptoms appear.
Scientists have used ultrasound scanners to look at blood vessels in the necks of more than 3,000 people and monitored them over the next 15 years. They found those with the most intense pulse went on to experience higher cognitive decline over the next decade than the other participants.
An international; team of experts led by the University College London (UCL) measured the intensity of the pulse travelling towards the brain in 3,191 people in 2002. More intense pulses can have greater damage to the smaller vessels of the brain, structural changes in the brain’s blood vessels and can cause mini-strokes. Over the next 15 years researches will monitor the participants and their memory ability. Those with the highest intensity pulse at the beginning of the study are about 50% more likely to show accelerated cognitive decline compared to the rest of the participants. Researchers say this was the equivalent of about an extra one to one-and-half years of decline.
Cognitive decline is often one of the first signs of dementia but not everyone will experience it and will go on to develop the condition. Researchers said the test could provide a new way to identify people that are at risk and can lead to earlier treatments.
Controlling blood pressure and cholesterol, having a healthy diet, doing regular exercise and not smoking can all be factors to help decrease the risk of dementia.
Dr Scott Chiesa, from UCL, said: “Dementia is the end result of decades of damage, so by the time people get dementia it’s too late to do anything.
“What we’re trying to say is you need to get in as early as possible, identify a way to see who’s actually progressing towards possibly getting dementia and target them.”
