BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese neurologists have detected volatile organic compounds (VOC) to distinguish cognitive dysfunction from cognitively normal individuals, according to a recent research article published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
The research team of neurologists from the Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha conducted cognitive assessments and collected exhaled air from 1,467 adults over 65 years old in the community.
After detecting their VOC, the researchers figured out 66 types of VOC components significantly different between the cognitive dysfunction and cognitively normal groups.
The neurologists further disclosed that the combined effect of ten types of VOC components on cognitive dysfunction reached 0.876.
In addition, they found that the 10 VOC ions showed significant differences between cognitive dysfunction and cognitively normal individuals.
Mild cognitive dysfunction and dementia are considered two stages of the same disease, but there is no effective biomarker to distinguish them at present.
The novel approach is non-invasive and low-cost. It offers new ideas for the early detection of cognitive dysfunction, according to the scientists.
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2023/0415/c90000-20006310.html