Alzheimer’s risk ‘could be predicted by brain size’

Physicians could gain an insight into a person's risk of Alzheimer's disease by assessing the size of patients' brains, according to a new study.

Research published this month in the medical journal Neurology has revealed that people with smaller regions of the brain's cortex could be more likely to develop symptoms consistent with very early-stage Alzheimer's.

During the study, brain scans were used to measure the thickness of regions of the cortex in 159 people free of dementia, with 21 percent identified as being at high risk going on to experience cognitive decline, compared to seven percent of average-risk patients and zero percent of those at a low risk.

It was also found that high-risk patients were also far likelier to have abnormal levels of proteins associated with the disease in their cerebrospinal fluid.

Dr Bradford Dickerson, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said: "Further research is needed on how using MRI scans to measure the size of different brain regions in combination with other tests may help identify people at the greatest risk of developing early Alzheimer's."

Last month, a Pittsburgh-based study was published that offered evidence that eating baked or broiled fish can help to reduce patients' risk of contracting neurodegenerative conditions.