New App Helps Diagnose Alzheimer's Disease Through Speech Patterns

Technology has helped tremendously in the diagnosis and treatment of numerous diseases. A new app reportedly has the capacity to identify and monitor Alzheimer's disease by analyzing speech patterns.

Analysis Of Speech Patterns

The app, which is being developed by Indian researchers, is based on speech emotion recognition. It stores a person's normal voice patterns and determines if it changes over the course of time. A normal person's speech is tied to Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and suicidal thoughts of depressed individuals, NDTV reported.

People with early stages of Alzheimer's disease suffer mild memory losses, as well as lack of cognitive and perceptual ability in language, speech and sentence construction. Patients and relatives of patients often associate these symptoms with old age, rather than Alzheimer's.

The app is still under development, and researchers are still working on supplying the app with important data with the help of other organizations like the Institute of Psychiatry, Kolkata, according to Ubergizmo. Susmita Bhaduri, from Kolkata's Deepa Ghosh Research Foundation, said they examined 1,200 samples of speech using the app to determine the differences between emotions like anger and sadness.

New Brain Scan Helps Fight Dementia

In Britain, scientists at the University College London is developing a new brain scan that detects and measures the proteins in the brain causing Alzheimer's disease, Express reported. Those proteins are called amyloid and tau, which appears in the brain matter even before Alzheimer's sets in.

The new method will use emission tomography (PET) scans that use radioactive tracers to locate the protein masses. Experts think amyloid and tau develop in an individual's brain 10-15 years before the early onset of forgetfulness. Amyloid serves as the catalyst of memory loss, while tau drives patients further into the condition.

With more research, experts are hoping that patients will be able to undergo therapy that delays the effects of Alzheimer's. As a result, they wouldn't be showing any of the worse symptoms of the disease as they grow older, Express further reported.

Around 5 million people are suffering from Alzheimer's disease in the U.S., NBC News reported. That number is projected to double by 2050 as the current generation grows older.

Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that worsens as time passes. The condition is incurable, but there are treatments available to curb its symptoms, the Alzheimer's Association wrote.

There are numerous drugs that prevent amyloid build-up in the brain, but they have all failed, NBC News noted. Researchers believe that the medication started late, with patients already showing symptoms of Alzheimer's. Anti-tau drugs are currently being developed as well.