An eye test that can detect Alzheimer's years before any symptoms show is being developed by scientists.
It follows the discovery that a toxic protein that builds up in the brains of dementia patients - triggering loss of memory and confusion - also accumulates in their eyes.
Although the test is several years away, it could eventually allow doctors to give drugs that slow down the onset of the disease.
Revealing: Eye tests could soon reveal a toxic protein that triggers dementia
Around 800,000 people in Britain suffer from Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The number of cases is expected to double within a generation.
There is no cure and existing drugs can only ease symptoms.
The condition is diagnosed by memory tests and occasionally brain scans. However, the disease can only be confirmed by a post mortem which reveals the presence of a harmful protein called amyloid beta in the brain.
The new five year study, published in the journal PLoS One, looked at links between dementia and cataracts in people with Down's Syndrome.
'People with Down's syndrome develop symptoms of Alzheimer's-type dementia often by the age of 30,' said Dr Lee Goldstein, of Boston University's Alzheimer's Disease Centre.
'This is because they have an extra copy of a key Alzheimer’s gene that leads to increased amyloid-beta accumulation in the brain. We discovered that this same protein starts to accumulate very early in the lens of the eye, even in children.'
The researchers believe the same protein could be found in the eyes of people without Down's syndrome who are suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Dr David Hunt, an Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital Boston and Vice Chairman, said: ‘The results are striking.
'We have known that these cataracts are prevalent in people with Down's syndrome and are sometimes seen at birth, but we never knew how they were related to the disorder—now we know.’
The scientists say they are developing an eye scanner to measure amyloid beta in the lens.
Dr Goldstein added: ‘Effective treatments for the brain disease in Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease are on the horizon, and early detection is the key for successful intervention. The path to effective treatment is what drives our research.'
However, before a test can be developed, researcher need to find out what proportion of people who die with Alzheimer's disease have these distinctive cataracts.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, Head of Research, Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘Studies like this one offer hope for finding new ways of detecting Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms become apparent.
'This could help with developing treatments such as vaccines to help transform people’s lives.
‘However, this research was carried out post-mortem. Much more research is now needed to find ways of measuring the development of these cataracts in living people and to establish if there is a link to the way cataracts develop in other people with Alzheimer’s.’
Earlier this year, University College London scientists revealed they were working on a different eye test that looks for tell tale changes in the retina that show the early signs of Alzheimer's.
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