Canadian researchers say they may soon be able to easily identify adults who are on the path to Alzheimerâs disease, using a tool that works in a similar way to a pediatricianâs growth charts.
The tool, called the QuoCo (a play on the term âcognitive quotientâ), allows doctors to test the memory or cognitive performance of any patient and then plot changes over time, to see if those changes fit within the normal range.
âIt allows you to track the performance of an individual over time to see if that individual is following the normal cognitive decline associated with normal aging,â neurologist Dr. Robert Laforce Jr. explained to CTVâs Your Morning Monday.
Dr. Laforce said he and his team at the Université Laval helped establish a range of what constitutes ânormal cognitive declineâ by following 8,000 healthy individuals and tracking their performance using a well-established dementia screening tool called the MMSE, or Mini Mental State Examination.
They were then able to build a cognitive decline chart similar to the growth charts used in pediatrics. Physicians can use the tool to plot an older patientâs cognitive changes over time and determine if they are âfalling offâ the curve.
A new study of the QuoCo tool, published Monday in CMAJ (), found that it was 80 per cent accurate in correctly identifying those with dementia, and 89 per cent accurate in identifying those without it.
Dr. Laforce noted that the QuoCo looks at more than an individualâs MMSE test score. It also takes into consideration an individualâs age and education level, since research has shown that those with less education, for example, tend to have faster cognitive declines than those with more.
He also noted that the QuoCo would not be âthe only part of the equationâ in diagnosing dementia, which is why the average family member could not conduct the test on a loved one themselves.
âThe interpretation of these screening tests would have to be done with great expertise,â he said, which is why a physician is best suited to use the tool, since they can take a full clinical history, and conduct a physical examination to eliminate other possible causes for cognitive changes.
Although there is no cure for dementia and few medications that can slow the disease, Dr. Laforce believes that new treatments to delay cognitive decline are on the horizon.
âWeâre on the verge of vaccines, for instance, for 'prodromal' Alzheimerâs, or early stage Alzheimerâs, that we expect results on in about a year,â he said.
For that reason, he believes itâs important to create tools like QuoCo, to spot the earliest warning signs of the disease.
âWhen brain damage is advanced -- when thereâs irreversible brain damage -- thereâs not much we can do. So early screening is the key,â he said.