Ethan Whitman, Duke University
Magnetic resonance imaging detects signs of future diseases (much) before taking the first signs – a big step towards their prevention.
A new tool that works in different countries and contexts consists of magnetic resonance imaging that is able to detect signs of future diseaseslike A, before symptoms appear.
“The way we get older is quite distinct from the number of laps we have given to the sun,” says Ahmad Hariri, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, as well as one of the authors of published in Nature Aging This month.
The new tool, called Dunedinpacni, It was trained to estimate this score only based on a single brain magnetic resonance imaging collected to 860 study participants at the age of 45.
In an analysis, researchers analyzed brain images of 624 individuals between 52 and 89 years old, in an American study on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Who was classified as aging faster were 60% more likely to develop dementia In the following years.
With a single magnetic resonance imaging, the tool can estimate the risk of a person to develop chronic diseases later in life-even middle-aged people.
“What is really fantastic is that we can capture the speed to which people get older with data collected in midlife,” said Hariri. “And this is helping us predict the diagnosis of dementia in older people“.
“Things that seem fast aging can simply be differences in exposure to factors such as gasoline with lead or cigarette smoking, generation -specific,” explains the researcher.
“We think it will be a key tool to predict and evaluate risks of disease, especially Alzheimer’s and related dementia, and also to better understand the progression of the disease,” concluded Hariri.
