MRI measurements of the brain could be a helpful diagnostic tool for determining who is at risk for developing Alzheimer’s dementia.

Researchers have found that there is a considerable amount of brain shrinkage which can be detected up to a decade before symptoms of Alzheimer’s appear.

“The magnetic resonance measurements could be very important indicators to help identify who may be at risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia,” Leyla deToledo-Morrell of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

“If a drug therapy or treatment is developed in the future, those who are still without symptoms but at great risk would benefit the most from treatment,”

Alzhimer’s is a growing problem as the population ages.

The challenge lies in early detection and treatments which target the four degenerative pathways to alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia and the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although specific genetic mutations are known to cause the early onset form of the disease, the late onset form is thought to arise from a complex interaction of susceptibility genes and other risk factors