Eyes are the windows to the soul. However, a new study reveals they are also the gateway to cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Read to know how.
Your eyes can reveal signs of Alzheimer’s
As per a new study, eyes can be a reflection of a person’s cognitive health. Researchers are exploring how the eye can help in diagnosing the disease before the first symptoms begin. After all, for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, memory and behavior are affected by the time the disease advances. “The eye is the window into the brain. You can see directly into the nervous system by looking into the back of the eye, toward the optic nerve and retina,” stated Dr. Christine Greer. Dr. Geer, an ophthalmologist is the director of medical education at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases located in Florida.
“Alzheimer’s disease begins in the brain decades before the first symptoms of memory loss,” stated Dr. Richard Issacson. Dr. Issacson is an Alzheimer’s preventive neurologist at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases. According to him, identifying the condition in the early stages and adopting healthy lifestyle changes helps in controlling “modifiable risk factors, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.”
More on the study
The study published in Acta Neuropathologica examined donated retina and brain tissue from 86 people with various degrees of mental decline. It also revealed a significant rise in beta-amyloid, a key marker of Alzheimer’s. On the other hand, microglial cells saw an 80 percent decline in people with cognitive issues. Microglial cells are responsible for maintaining and repairs in other cells. Additionally, they keep beta-amyloid away from the retina and brain, reducing the chances of the disease.
“Our study is the first to provide in-depth analyses of the protein profiles and the molecular, cellular, and structural effects of Alzheimer’s disease in the human retina and how they correspond with changes in the brain and cognitive function,” stated Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui. Koronyo-Hamaoui is a senior author of the study and a professor of neurosurgery and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai. “These changes in the retina correlated with changes in parts of the brain called the entorhinal and temporal cortices, a hub for memory, navigation, and the perception of time,” she added.