Scientists from UCLA Health recently published findings in eBioMedicine titled “Identifying common disease trajectories of Alzheimer’s disease with electronic health records.” The study presents a new understanding of neurodegeneration, according to an announcement.
The authors hope their discovery will help shape better preventative care and earlier diagnostics. Key findings from 12,556 electronic health records:
- The researchers determined four “major trajectory clusters” for Alzheimer’s including mental health, encephalopathy, mild cognitive impairment, and vascular disease pathways.
- High risk groups were found for each pathway.
- About “26% of diagnostic progressions showed consistent directional ordering.”
- The four pathways proved to be more accurate for detecting Alzheimer’s disease risk than one diagnosis “when validated in an independent population.”
