Confirmed: Amyloid, Tau Levels Rise Years Before Alzheimer's Onset

"Our results confirm accelerated biomarker changes during preclinical AD and highlight the important role of amyloid levels in tau accelerations," the investigators note.

"These data may suggest that there is a short therapeutic window for slowing AD pathogenesis prior to the emergence of clinical symptoms ― and that this window may occur after amyloid accumulation begins, but before amyloid has substantial impacts on tau accumulation," study investigator Corinne Pettigrew, PhD, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, told Medscape Medical News.