National Institute of Health establishes 6-stage classification criteria for Alzheimer's disease progression risk

The National Institute of Health, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, announced on the 22nd that it has established a six-step standard to classify the risk of progression of Alzheimer's disease using data from a cohort of domestic geriatric dementia patients.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. It progresses sequentially from a normal cognitive state without memory problems to mild cognitive impairment and dementia, but even at the same cognitive stage, the speed of disease progression and risk of worsening may vary from person to person.

The researchers analyzed various information such as cognitive function test results, blood tests, brain imaging tests, and age of 1,263 participants in the domestic geriatric dementia patient cohort and developed a 6-level prognostic system that classifies the risk of progression in more detail than the existing 3-level classification centered on cognitive status.

As a result of the analysis, the higher the risk of progression, the more evident the decline in cognitive function and daily function. In particular, it was confirmed that differences in progression speed, which were difficult to distinguish using existing cognitive status classifications alone, could be explained step by step by integrating various information.

The researchers explained that this study is meaningful in that it goes beyond evaluating the current state of Alzheimer's disease and lays a research foundation for predicting the future course of the disease.

The researchers said, "Because Alzheimer's disease progresses in various ways even at the same cognitive stage, it is important to analyze various information accumulated in long-term follow-up cohorts. Based on this study, we will more precisely understand the disease course of Korean Alzheimer's disease patients and advance prognosis prediction research."

This study was conducted based on data from the Korean dementia cohort being constructed and utilized through the Brain Disease Research Base Creation Research Project (BRIDGE). The research results were published in the international academic journal ‘Nature Communication’.