By Steven Reinberg WEDNESDAY, July 11 (HealthDay News) --
Changes in compounds found in spinal fluid may identify a rare
form of Alzheimer's disease 25 years before symptoms appear,
researchers say. Among people genetically destined to develop
early onset Alzheimer's, these biochemical changes precede the
memory loss and other mental problems that accompany the brain
disorder, investigators have found. Certain genetic mutations
cause this rare form of Alzheimer's, which accounts for less
than 1 percent of cases and becomes evident as early as age 30.
"Certain kinds of biomarkers change years, and even decades,
before the first symptoms in this rare, early form of
Alzheimer's disease," said lead researcher Dr. Randall Bateman,
a professor of neurology at Washington University School of
Medicine in St. Louis. "If your parents have one of these
mutations, you have a 50 percent chance of having Alzheimer's,"
Bateman said. "If you have the mutation, it's a near certainty
that you will have Alzheimer's in your 30s,