How To Treat Dementia? This Childhood Test Will Determine Risk Of Developing Condition

Dementia is one condition that affects millions of adults. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that among those that are in the 65-year-old age bracket, about 5 million adults had dementia in 2014. By 2060, it is projected that the number will grow by more than a hundredfold at 14 million.

This staggering figure has led many researchers to look for means on how to combat this neurological condition. Recent research found that there is one test that a child can take, which could help determine whether he is at risk of developing the condition.

Test in Childhood

As reported by Express, there’s new research that suggested that by taking a memory and thinking test, one could determine if the child is at risk of developing it when he becomes older. Researchers found a way to correlate a test taken by an individual during childhood and senior years.

The test was taken by 8-year-olds back in 1946 and then retook the tests when they were already between the age of 69 and 71. In the test, the kids were made to look at the arrangement of geometric shapes where they were tasked to identify the missing piece.

Based on the result of the study, researchers found that there was a striking similarity between the test results of individuals when they were 8 years old and when they were already in their old age. Those children who belonged to the 25 percentile of the results were likely to remain in the same percentile upon reaching the age of 70.

Amyloid-Beta Plaques

Researchers also looked at the MRI scans of the participants to look at the amyloid-beta plaques. These are the protein clumps that were found between the brain’s nerve cells and were closely associated with Alzheimer’s disease. A low cognitive performance was found in those with the plaques, while a higher performance was found in those without.

Other factors that affect the cognitive performance of adults include their education and socioeconomic status. Education also played a massive part since those who completed a college degree scored higher compared to those who stopped studying before reaching the age of 16.