What is it about?
Infrared light can harmlessly penetrate human tissue and report information about changes in the structure and chemical composition of the tissue. This work shows that infrared light applied to the temple can distinguish people with advanced Alzheimer's disease from age-matched controls. This method can also give useful information about people with mild cognitive impairment. A limitation of this method is that at this time we cannot say exactly what structural change is being detected by the infrared light.
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Why is it important?
This method has the potential to be used as a noninvasive test to screen for Alzheimer's disease and to assess preventive interventions. More work is needed, most importantly to determine what structural changes are detected by the infrared light.
Perspectives
There are dozens of everyday compounds that have been proposed as possible preventives for Alzheimer's disease. If successfully developed, this method could allow strict scientific confirmation of their effectiveness before symptoms develop.
Frank Greco
VAMC Bedford
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Near-Infrared Optical Spectroscopy In Vivo Distinguishes Subjects with Alzheimer’s Disease from Age-Matched Controls, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, July 2021, IOS Press,
DOI: 10.3233/jad-201021.
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