Test Taken by Teens in 1960 Could Predict Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed the answers to a questionnaire taken by 440,000 adolescent students in 1960 are finding use in the current scientific battle against Alzheimer's disease, reports the Washington Post . Subjects who performed well on test questions as teenagers exhibited a lower incidence of Alzheimer's and related dementias in their 60s and 70s than those who scored poorly. The test, intended to identify students with aptitudes for science and engineering, asked them questions about academics and general knowledge, along with their home lives, health, aspirations, and personality traits. Researchers at the American Institutes for Research compared the results for more than 85,000 test-takers with their 2012-2013 Medicare claims and expenditures data, and found that warning signs for dementia may be detectable as early as adolescence. The team examined how students scored on 17 areas of cognitive ability, finding people with lower scores as teenagers were more prone to getting Alzheimer's and related dementias in their 60s and early 70s. Persons with lower mechanical reasoning and memory for words as teens had a higher probability of developing dementia in later life, with men in the lower-scoring half 17 percent more likely and women with lower scores 16 percent more likely.