Could a simple saliva test detect Alzheimer's disease? Early detection of this disease could be made available using one simple body fluid: saliva. The saliva test was presented by researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada at the 2015 Alzheimer's Association on International Conference in Washing ton this week.
Lead author Dr. Shraddha Sapkota, a neuroscience graduate from the said university and her colleagues were able to present the study that showcases that biomarkers in saliva may indicate early Alzheimer's disease. This is a breakthrough in medicine because up to date, there is still no test available for the brain condition, reports Medical News Today.
Alzheimer's disease affects millions of Americans and is now considered the 6th leading cause of death in the country. Around one in three older adults who die in the country has dementia. Also, Alzheimer Association reports that of the 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer's, an estimated 5.1 million people are age 65 and older, and approximately 200,000 individuals are under age 65.
They gathered and analyzed saliva from around 100 people and then divided them into three groups based on their cognitive ability. Around 35 people were placed in the normal aging group, 25 were people with mild cognitive problem and 22 have Alzheimer's disease.
The samples were analyzed using protein analysis technology wherein around 6,000 metabolized were studied. These are produced by the brain's chemical reactions. The specific biomarkers from people with mild and severe dementia were compared to the normal group.
"Salivary metabolomics analyses will advance the cause of early detection of Alzheimer's disease ... and promote our understanding of the mechanisms from normal aging to Alzheimer's," said Shraddha Sapkota, a neuroscience graduate student at the University of Alberta in Canada who presented the study, as reported by CNN.
The researchers were able to determine the compounds that were more present in the saliva of patients with dementia and Alzheimer's than those with no cognitive problems. They validated the results using the saliva of seven participants with Alzheimer's, ten with MCI and 10 who were normal.
Now, the team believes that their study would hold promise in providing patients with a noninvasive and cheap means to determine any risk of Alzheimer's or dementia.
