ISLAMABAD: There is currently no tool for predicting how quickly early stage Alzheimer’s disease will progress.
A new study has identified a simple blood test used to measure insulin resistance that may also help doctors determine which people with early stage Alzheimer’s disease are most likely to experience rapid cognitive decline.
The test found that higher insulin resistance indicated quicker deterioration in cognitive decline.
Researchers estimate that about 69 million peopleTrusted Source around the world are living with prodromal Alzheimer’s disease, or early stage Alzheimer’s disease. People in the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease begin to experience some mild cognitive impairment that may affect their memory and ability to complete tasks and communicate. Past studies show that detecting Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stage allows currently available medications and lifestyle changes to be more effective in helping to slow down disease progression. “Alzheimer’s (disease) begins silently, often decades before symptoms ap-pear, and so detecting risk early is essential to slow or alter the dis-ease course,” Bianca Gumina, MD, a neurology resident for the Neurology Unit in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences at the Uni-versity of Brescia and for the Neurology Unit in the Department of Conti-nuity of Care and Frailty at ASST Spedali Civili Hospital, both in Italy, told Medical News Today. “Current tools can diagnose the disease, but they don’t always predict how fast it will progress. Identifying individuals at higher risk of rap-id decline [c]ould allow for timely, targeted interventions during a critical window when the disease could be still responsive to treatment or changes in (lifestyle),” she said. Gumina is part of the research team for a study recently presented at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2025 that has identified a simple blood test used to measure insulin resistance that may also help doctors determine which people with early stage Alzheimer’s disease are most likely to experience rapid cognitive decline.
