Can a simple blood test combined with a simple neuropsychological test diagnose Alzheimer’s disease? Can taking daily supplements prevent cognitive decline in people in the early stages of the disease?
Researchers at the sprawling campus of the National Brain Research Center at the foot of Aravalis are trying to answer these questions with a specialized MRI machine. Unlike what you see in tertiary care hospitals, this not only takes pictures of the brain, but it can also distinguish between the chemicals present in the brain and the compounds it absorbs. It helped elucidate the relationship between iron levels in the blood and brain and a natural antioxidant called MRI. Once we know this frequency, we can focus on it and only that compound will be shown.Using this technique, we were able to show glutathione in the brains of healthy and Alzheimer’s participants. I was able to measure the level.
In addition, this MRI machine can also detect differences in the texture of iron-absorbed brain tissue. why is this important? Dr. Mandall, an engineer by training who has worked in the radiology, anesthesiology, and psychiatry departments of a respected American research institute, has a hypothesis. He believes that levels of the antioxidants glutathione and iron in key parts of the brain are predictors of Alzheimer’s disease. Our mood, lifestyle, what we eat and the type of air we breathe all determine the levels of free radicals that are produced. An imbalance between levels of iron, a source of free radicals, and glutathione levels is likely one of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Mandal. increase.
His team has already shown differences in iron and glutathione levels in the hippocampus of healthy individuals and Alzheimer’s disease patients. is one of those that recite He instead sees these deposits as symptoms of neurodegenerative disease.”Comparing Alzheimer’s disease to the Ganges, researchers thought the deposits of amyloid-beta protein to be gangotris, but they weren’t.” was probably in Kanpur or Haridwar. We still have a long way to go to get to Gangotri or the source of the disease,” Dr. Mandal explains.
So how might his research lead to the development of treatments and diagnostics for disease? With this theory in mind, Dr. Mandal imaged the brains of healthy subjects and simultaneously performed blood tests. The unpublished results of this study of 70 healthy subjects showed that he was able to establish baseline levels of iron and glutathione in the brain, as well as blood in different age groups. Comparing this to decreased glutathione levels and increased iron levels in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease can help create a scale for detecting the disease.
“My previous studies showed that glutathione levels were lower and iron levels were higher in brains with mild cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, unlike healthy subjects, but at this time the blood We currently have data from healthy individuals and a simple trial to do the same in Alzheimer’s patients would help scale up. A simple blood test done in a sophisticated laboratory setting can predict disease, and in combination with neuropsychological testing can be used to determine early whether a person has the disease.
Tests that measure a patient’s cognitive function are still used to determine if a person may have the disease. However, some tests are also needed to rule out other possibilities of such cognitive decline. This new method may simplify diagnosis. Your doctor may suggest analysis of cerebrospinal fluid or brain imaging to detect amyloid-beta protein deposits, a marker of the disease.
With that same principle in mind, Dr. Mandall hypothesized that taking a daily supplement of glutathione, already marketed as a dietary supplement, could help prevent slide in patients with mild cognitive decline. We are doing a trial at AIIMS.
