Lost is the first sign of Alzheimer's

Whoever gets lost gets to see it right away. Scientists have found that it may be one of the first early signs of dangerous Alzheimer's disease.

Usually, Alzheimer's disease is not diagnosed until the patient is in his 60s and it causes serious damage to the brain.

The memory degradation of a young man like Julianne Moore described in the movie Still Alice.

The new study, called the University of Edinburgh's Prevention Project (Preventive) , works with other UK research centers to find the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease when people are young.

Scientists behind long-term research in their preliminary findings have discovered that the defect of walking skills is one of the first indicators of this condition.

They take a classic example of the memory degradation of a young person like Julianne Moore described in Still Alice, the protagonist who is suddenly lost while jogging on the familiar path at the beginning of the film.

The Alzheimer's Association funded the study conducted a two-group analysis: a group of people between the ages of 41 and 59 whose relatives were diagnosed with the disease, while another group that was not associated with the disease.

The findings, published in Alzheimer's and Dementia, show that people in high-risk groups show they are less likely to take a test that measures their ability to visualize their location. The study also found a part of their brain involved in navigation - the hippocampus - smaller.

Defects of walking skills are one of the first indicators of Aizheimer disease.

Part of this analysis is the Four Mountains test, developed by Dennis Chan, a neuroscientist at Cambridge University.

In it, individuals were shown a picture of the mountain and asked to identify it in four other larger landscapes. The test allows experts to focus on those who are suffering from hippocampal degradation.

Experiments are still unclear and this results in a diagnosis of the disease. It is not known what results could help people at risk when there is currently no way to cure Alzheimer's. However, scientists believe that drugs that are more effective if patients use them in the early stages of disease and healthy lifestyles can also prevent its potential development. Therefore, knowing the risk to prevent early will always work.

Another study by scientists at the University of Maryland School of Public Health showed that walking 30 minutes four times a week is enough to slow the process of mild cognitive decline.