Early Signs of Alzheimer's Disease Now Found In People as Young as 20

    MOUNT DORA, FL, March 09, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Signs of memory-destroying Alzheimer's disease can be found in the brain as early as the age of twenty--according to new groundbreaking research.

While it has been known for some time that silent degenerative changes in the brain leading to Alzheimer's often start around the age of 45--or up to 20 years before the first symptoms appear--new research at Northwestern University in Chicago paints a far bleaker picture.

Scientists at Northwestern found that toxic beta-amyloid protein--a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease--can begin accumulating in the brains of people as young as twenty. The study, published in the journal Brain, reported on the examination of the brains of three groups of deceased individuals: 13 cognitively-normal young individuals, ages 20 to 66; 16 non-demented old individuals, ages 70 to 99; and 21 individuals with Alzheimer's ages 60 to 95.

This work comes on the heels of a recent British study which found that Alzheimer's has now risen to become the #1 cause of death in women in the UK. Alzheimer's is currently the #6 leading cause of death of men and women in the US.

Both of these studies should ring alarm bells in the US, says Dr. Daniel Thomas, a leading brain-health specialist. Dr. Thomas said, "There is every reason to believe that what has been seen in the British study will soon be seen here in the states. And with the findings in the American study, gone are the days when Alzheimer's was a disease just for our grandparents to worry about. The findings in the American study suggest that Alzheimer's disease can begin to damage the brain at a much younger age than ever imagined. This will lead to people losing their memory at a much younger age too."

Alzheimer's is not only the most-feared disease, but is also the fastest-growing disease in America. It is predicted that two billion people worldwide could be at risk for the disease by the year 2050. This is an unprecedented health-care crisis that could cost this country $1 trillion a year. The scope of the looming medical-care disaster is beyond comparison. If this disease is not contained, it may bankrupt the US healthcare system!

Dr. Thomas shared some sobering facts about dementia: There are over 100 different types. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 75% of the dementia cases, but they all have one thing in common: Massive loss (death) of brain cells. Conventional medicine has little to offer. FDA-approved drugs may reduce some symptoms, but generally only do so for 6-12 months, and half of all patients show no improvement whatsoever. Furthermore, these drugs do nothing to prevent, stop, or reverse the underlying disease process itself.

Added Dr. Thomas, "But there is new hope emerging from the field of neurogenesis--a process whereby new nerve cells are generated in the areas of the brain that are dead or dying."

A forerunner to brain-destroying Alzheimer's disease is a medical condition called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). You enter a room and cannot remember why. You misplace your keys, stumble for a word, or can't put a name to a familiar face. You might even experience a slight delay in deciding to do something and actually doing it, such as changing lanes on the highway. Any one of these events could be blamed on the fast pace and high stress of today's world. Or they could be the first signs of MCI. People with MCI are 14 times more likely than cognitively-healthy adults to progress to full-blown Alzheimer's disease. To learn if you may be at risk for developing MCI or Alzheimer's disease, there is a free online dementia quiz at DementiaQuiz.com. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete.

About Dr. Daniel Thomas, DO, MS: Dr. Thomas is a brain-health specialist, Medical Director of the Thomas Brain Health Center, and founder of DementiaQuiz.com. He is a leader in the promising field of neurogenesis. Dr. Thomas earned his medical degree from Des Moines University, a Master's degree in Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine from the University of South Florida College of Medicine, and a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Andrews University.

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