THURSDAY, Dec. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Folks worried that they’re developing dementia have few options for catching their brain decline before it's too late.

But a new blood test might be able to detect early changes that wind up leading to cognitive impairment and dementia.

The test looks at a protein that appears to play a role in the ability of drugs, nutrients, water and other substances to pass through the walls of a blood vessel.

Higher levels of this protein -- placental growth factor (PlGF) – could be a warning sign for a possible decline in brain function, researchers reported Dec. 18 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

“PlGF could be used as a cost-effective screening tool for identifying patients at risk for vascular brain injury before the insidious onset of cognitive decline,” lead researcher Dr. Kyle Kern, a vascular neurologist at UCLA Health, said in a university news release.

“As a simple blood test, such a tool would be valuable not only for patients and clinicians, but also for researchers identifying patients for clinical trials,” Kern added.

Leaky blood vessels that allow fluid and inflammatory biochemicals to seep into brain tissue have been increasingly recognized as a key driver of cognitive decline and dementia, researchers said in background notes.

Unfortunately, this brain health problem is currently diagnosed using MRI scans, which tend to catch it after the damage has been done, researchers added.

For this study, researchers analyzed blood samples and MRI scans from 370 seniors with an average age of 72.

Results showed that higher PIGF levels were associated with more water in the brain, and more changes in white matter that have been associated with increased brain aging.

Evidence also suggests that people with these brain changes scored lower on cognitive testing.

Early detection of brain changes related to dementia could allow doctors to develop or apply treatments that could protect brain health, researchers said.

“Ideally, PlGF could be used to screen younger populations for whom currently available treatments and lifestyle modifications may prevent or reverse the deleterious effects of vascular injury before the onset of cognitive dysfunction,” researchers noted.

However, they added that more research is needed to make sure PIGF is a solid means of predicting dementia.

More information

The American Brain Foundation has more on cerebral small vessel disease.

SOURCE: UCLA, news release, Dec. 18, 2024