Researchers have found that a combination of proteins, seen in spinal fluid, may help to identify which patients with early symptoms of dementia will subsequently develop full-blown Alzheimer's disease.

In the study of more than 1,500 people, researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that changes in the brain were reflected in biomarkers found in the cerebrospinal fluid (the cord that runs from the brain through the spine).

These biomarkers found in cerebrospinal fluid may help to make an early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, the researchers said.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and is a progressive and irreversible disease of the brain, characterised by loss of intellectual function, chronic memory loss, language deterioration and personality change.

The disease currently affects approximately 38,000 people in Ireland but this number is predicted to rise dramatically over the decade.

“There is currently no medication that can alter the course of Alzheimer’s, but the medicines currently under development will probably have the greatest effect if they are used from an early stage – so methods are needed for early diagnosis of the disease,” the researchers said.

“This new method makes it easier to identify the disease, which is essential for making a correct diagnosis early on. These biomarkers may also be useful in research to develop new medicines,” the researchers concluded.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).