Scientists are finding more clues to help determine whether people with mild dementia symptoms are at risk for Alzheimer’s.

A new study suggests that biomarkers found in cerebrospinal fluid (fluid that surrounds the spinal cord and brain and acts as a protective cushion) could predict who would develop Alzheimer’s disease 90% of the time among patients with mild cognitive impairment, a condition characterized by measurable memory problems.

Researchers report these findings in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

This is the longest clinical follow-up ever of patients who begin with mild cognitive impairment, researchers reported. Patients were tracked from four to 12 years, with a median of 9.2 years.  The research builds on a 2006 Lancet Neurology study that followed patients for a median of 5.2 years, beginning with a group of 137 volunteers with mild cognitive impairment.The new study is important because of the long follow-up period, according to Adam Brickman, assistant professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research.

Read more about Spinal tap may predict Alzheimer’s years ahead