Alzheimer's Could Start Affecting the Brain as Young as 3

Alzheimer’s could start affecting brain development from as young as 3 :

Researchers have found that a gene variant linked to Alzheimer’s disease may alter brain development during childhood, with children as young as three carrying the gene showing signs of smaller brains and affected cognitive abilities.

Previous research suggests that people with the ε4 variant of the APOE gene are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s later in life, but the new findings suggest the condition may have roots as a developmental disorder, long before any brain plaques have a chance to form.

“Studying these genes in young children may ultimately give us early indications of who may be at risk for dementia in the future,” said neuroscientist Linda Chang from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, “and possibly even help us develop ways to prevent the disease from occurring, or to delay the start of the disease.”

I have always had a feeling that problems with dementia start well before old age. The question now is, what do scientists do to stop the disease early? Maybe if they worked on this disease as hard as they work to prove global warming but with better intentions, they could actually help people.