Alzheimer’s first signs may appear in your eyes, study finds

(Sandee LaMotte/ CNN Health) — The eyes are more than a window to the soul — they’re also a reflection of a person’s cognitive health.

“The eye is the window into the brain,” said ophthalmologist Dr. Christine Greer, director of medical education at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Boca Raton, Florida. “You can see directly into the nervous system by looking into the back of the eye, toward the optic nerve and retina.”

Research has been exploring how the eye may help in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms begin. The disease is well advanced by the time memory and behavior are affected.

“Alzheimer’s disease begins in the brain decades before the first symptoms of memory loss,” said Dr. Richard Isaacson, an Alzheimer’s preventive neurologist who is also at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases. (…)