Consumption devices can be used to assess brain health, shows the study

Technology changes the way doctors think of patient assessment and, in turn, how patients expect to be able to measure their own health. Applications designed for smartphones and portable devices can provide unique information on user brain health.

It is estimated that 55 million individuals in the world suffer from a certain form of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are the main causes, numbers that should triple by 2050. Early education and detection of cognitive changes allow individuals to promulgate life -style and non -pharmacological approaches to slow down or prevent decline.

In fact, up to 45% of global dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by targeted lifestyle changes and risk factors management, according to 2024 Lancet Commission dementia Prevention, intervention and care. This underlines how individuals can be empowered to protect and improve their brain health through proactive measures.

A new study in the newspaper Nature Medicine noted that the consumer quality widely used digital devicesLike the iPhone and Apple Watch, can be effective in assessing cognitive health without requiring visits or supervision in person. This is the largest cognitive study of this type to demonstrate that self-administered cognitive evaluations can be used to assess cognitive health over time.

“In the long term, we may be able to track digital health metrics and identify those reflecting cognitive change that are on a trajectory of decline and warrant follow-up with a medical professional to determine if an early intervention treat plan is needed to either slow or prevent progress,” say co-author rhoda rhoda AU, Ph.D., Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and one of the Researchers on study.

The study has scored more than 23,000 adults across the United States who used an iPhone. Registration was wide and included people who agreed to share their data, who were 21 to 86 years old, and extended cognitive health to those who diagnose with Light cognitive disorders.

Among the participants registered, more than 90% were able to respect the study protocol for at least a year, which included the use of an iPhone and the wearing of an Apple Watch on a daily basis, as well as taking cognitive assessments by themselves and the realization of questionnaires on a monthly and quarterly basis.

Researchers also found that digital self-administered digital cognitive assessments were reliable and clinically valid in large registered populations. The ability to measure with remote cognitive health could be the first step to provide individuals with the information they need to take brain health measures.