Brain scans can 'detect Alzheimer's disease effects'

A new form of brain scan known as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) appears to be better at detecting if a person with memory loss has brain changes due to Alzheimer's disease, a new study has found.

This week in an online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, it was revealed that Tor Vergata University in Rome studied 76 healthy people in the city aged between 20 to 80 with DTI-MRI brain scanning, which detects changes in brain chemistry and maps fibre tracts that connect brain regions.

Giovanni Carlesimo, the lead author of the report, said: "Our findings show this type of brain scan appears to be a better way to measure how healthy the brain is in people who are experiencing memory loss.

"This might help doctors when trying to differentiate between normal aging and diseases like Alzheimer's."

A study this week from the University of South Florida suggests that long-term exposure to the mobile phones could protect against Alzheimer's disease.

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