Weight loss can be early predictor of Alzheimer's in Down syndrome patients - Hindustan Times

As many as 90 per cent of people with Down syndrome experience Alzheimer's symptoms by the time they are 65, but brain changes associated with the disease appear decades earlier.

The findings indicate weight loss may be a useful predictor of the disease prior to the onset of the cognitive problems that often trigger diagnosis.

"We were really intrigued, because when we looked at the data and the time course of when weight was changing, we actually saw a stronger story of unintentional weight loss being linked to early Alzheimer's disease pathology in the brain," says Sigan Hartley, a UW-Madison professor of human development and family studies and senior author of the new study.

"The finding that unintentional weight loss appears to coincide in time with the accumulation of these proteins could signal that these processes are related or share causal pathways.

One hypothesis is that amyloid accumulation causes a shift in brain metabolism and hormone balance that triggers loss of fat and muscle.

"Our results are exciting, because they suggest that there may be some non-cognitive signs -- including unintentional weight loss -- that could help us predict who might be about to develop dementia earlier or later."