There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but scientists are regularly exploring ways to treat the symptoms of the disease.
Researchers are also working on early detection of dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease, as early detection can help with treatment.
Formic acid in urine could be a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes dementia as “an impairment in memory, thinking, or decision making that interferes with daily activities.”
In addition to Alzheimer’s disease, there are other forms of dementia such as dementia with Lewy bodies and vascular dementia. But Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia.
According to the Alzheimer’s Disease Association’s 2022 report, about 6.5 million people in the United States are living with the disease. In addition, researchers expect that number to double by 2050.
In addition, people with advanced Alzheimer’s disease may have difficulty swallowing, speaking, and walking.
Until the early 2000s, an autopsy was the only way to confirm if a person had Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.
According to the National Institute on Aging, doctors can now perform a lumbar puncture, also known as a lumbar puncture, to check for biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Doctors look for biomarkers such as beta-amyloid 42, the main component of amyloid plaques in the brain, and may look for abnormalities on a PET scan.
“New imaging techniques, specifically amyloid imaging, amyloid PET imaging, and tau PET imaging, allow us to see abnormalities in the brain while a person is alive,” said University of Michigan health professor and physician Kenneth M. Dr. Langa. in Ann Arbor, who was not involved in the study, commented on a recent Michigan Medicine podcast.
Some treatment options can help reduce the severity of asthma symptoms and slow the progression of the disease, although they cannot cure it.
For example, a doctor may prescribe drugs such as donepezil or galantamine to reduce asthma symptoms. An investigational drug called lecanemab may also slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Because testing for Alzheimer’s disease is expensive and may not be available to everyone, some researchers are prioritizing early screening.
Researchers from Shanghai Jiaotong University and WuXi Institute of Diagnostic Innovation of China jointly analyzed the role of formic acid as a biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease in urine.
The scientists chose this particular compound based on previous Alzheimer’s disease biomarker studies. They note that abnormal formaldehyde metabolism is a key feature of age-related cognitive impairment.
For this study, the authors recruited 574 participants from the Memory Clinic of the Sixth People’s Hospital of Shanghai, China.
They divided the participants into five groups based on how they performed on tests of cognitive function; these groups ranged from healthy cognition to Alzheimer’s disease:
The researchers collected urine samples from the participants for formic acid levels and blood samples for DNA analysis.
By comparing formic acid levels in each group, the researchers found differences between cognitively healthy participants and those with at least some degree of cognitive impairment.
In groups with some degree of cognitive decline, the level of formic acid in the urine was higher than in groups with healthy cognitive functions.
In addition, participants with Alzheimer’s disease had significantly higher levels of formic acid in their urine than cognitively healthy participants.
The scientists also found a negative correlation between the level of formic acid in the urine and cognitive tests in the areas of memory and attention.
“UA was significantly elevated in the [subjective cognitive decline] diagnosis group, which means that UA can be used for early diagnosis [of Alzheimer's disease],” the authors write.
The results of this study are important for several reasons, not least the high cost of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease.
If further research shows that urine formate can detect cognitive decline, this could become an easy-to-use and affordable test.
In addition, if such a test could detect cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease, healthcare professionals could intervene more quickly.
Dr. Sandra Petersen, DNP, senior vice president of health and wellness at Pegasus Senior Living, told Medical News Today about the study:
“Changes in Alzheimer’s disease begin about 20 to 30 years before diagnosis and often go unnoticed until serious damage develops. We know that early detection can lead to more treatment options for patients and the ability to plan for future care.”
”A breakthrough in such a (non-invasive and inexpensive) test available to the general public would be a game-changer in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Peterson said.
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