On December 6th, it was learned from the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University that the team led by Professor Lv Yang, Deputy Director of the Department of Geriatrics at the hospital, recently published their latest research results in the internationally renowned journal "Advanced Research Journal". This study shows that nail metabolism markers may be able to diagnose and predict Alzheimer's disease early, providing a new method for future diagnosis and prediction of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by memory impairment. The etiology of this disease is complex and the condition is irreversible. The patient's cognitive function will gradually decline, and ultimately lose their ability to live. Experts believe that early identification of risk signals, screening, and treatment can help delay the progression of Alzheimer's disease in patients. Lv Yang introduced that traditional methods for detecting Alzheimer's disease often rely on neuroimaging or blood indicators. And our nails, with a longer growth cycle and non-invasive sampling, can 'record' metabolic changes in the body over the past few weeks to months. Therefore, the Lv Yang team hopes to provide a more convenient method for early screening, staging, and follow-up of Alzheimer's disease by understanding the metabolites in the nails. The secretions we usually extract from nail crevices are not metabolic markers of nails. Nail metabolic markers are products of human metabolism inside the nails, "said Lv Yang. Researchers collected nail samples from 199 participants and conducted relevant research analysis. The final research results indicate that nail metabolomics can serve as a non-invasive and scalable pathway for detecting long-term metabolic status. Among them, the continuous decline of lauric acid runs through all stages of disease development, and has both disease progression indication and risk stratification value. Industry insiders believe that this study provides a new method for early diagnosis and progression prediction of Alzheimer's disease. In the future, nail metabolism markers are expected to be used for early screening, staging, and efficacy monitoring of Alzheimer's disease, providing patients with more convenient and sustainable follow-up methods. (New Society)