Researchers at Harvard University have found that an MRI scan can pick up telltale signs long before the patient suffers any memory loss or confusion.
The new diagnosis could help patients receive treatment and make arrangements to deal with the disorder long before it takes hold.
At the moment the only way to be sure that someone suffered Alzheimer's disease is to have a brain biopsy after death.
But increasingly scientists are beginning to see different markers in the body that precede the condition.
In the latest study, the researchers at Harvard and Rush University, in Chicago, discovered that there were subtle changes in the brain make-up that could be associated with the disease.
Using brain scans, they found that a thinning of the cerebral cortex – the outside layer of the brain seemed to coincide with the disorder.
They found in two studies of 65 people that a thin cerebral cortex increased your chances of the disease by threefold.
Equally those with the thinnest cortex had more than a 50 per cent chance of developing Alzheimer's compared with 20 per cent for the average.
"We know, primarily from post mortem studies, that changes characteristic of Alzheimer's disease can be present in the brains of cognitively normal people," said Dr Brad Dickerson, the lead author of the paper.
"But since it takes a long time to follow people through initial symptom development to eventual diagnosis, how that process occurs has received very little study.
"We used what we know about the signature brain changes seen in patients with Alzheimer's dementia, measured those areas in individuals with no symptoms and eventually determined that those who ultimately developed dementia showed subtle shrinking long before they had any symptoms."
Dr Leyla deToledo-Morrell said early diagnosis could be crucial in the future.
"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," she said.
Dr Anne Corbett, research manager at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘We have known for some time that changes in the brain can happen a long time before a person starts showing symptoms.
"Research such as this is helping us build on our understanding of where these changes happen and how early."
There are 750,000 people living with dementia in the UK with more than half suffering from Alzheimer's.
The study was published in the journal Neurology.
Meanwhile, in a sister study published in the same journal, scientists have discovered that treating high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes may lower risk of Alzheimer's disease
Researchers followed 837 people with mild cognitive impairment, the stage of memory loss that often leads to Alzheimer's disease.
Of the group, 414 had at least one vascular risk factor.
Participants were given blood tests and a medical history questionnaire and also underwent other tests that measured blood pressure, body mass, memory and thinking skills.
After five years, 298 people developed Alzheimer's disease.
The others still had mild cognitive impairment.
People with risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease and high cholesterol were two times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those without vascular risk factors.
A total of 52 per cent of those with risk factors developed Alzheimer's disease, compared to 36 per cent of those with no risk factors.
They found in two studies of 65 people that a thin cerebral cortex increased your chances of the disease by threefold.
Equally those with the thinnest cortex had more than a 50 per cent chance of developing Alzheimer's compared with 20 per cent for the average.
"We know, primarily from post mortem studies, that changes characteristic of Alzheimer's disease can be present in the brains of cognitively normal people," said Dr Brad Dickerson, the lead author of the paper.
"But since it takes a long time to follow people through initial symptom development to eventual diagnosis, how that process occurs has received very little study.
"We used what we know about the signature brain changes seen in patients with Alzheimer's dementia, measured those areas in individuals with no symptoms and eventually determined that those who ultimately developed dementia showed subtle shrinking long before they had any symptoms."
Dr Leyla deToledo-Morrell said early diagnosis could be crucial in the future.
"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," she said.
Dr Anne Corbett, research manager at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘We have known for some time that changes in the brain can happen a long time before a person starts showing symptoms.
"Research such as this is helping us build on our understanding of where these changes happen and how early."
There are 750,000 people living with dementia in the UK with more than half suffering from Alzheimer's.
The study was published in the journal Neurology.
Meanwhile, in a sister study published in the same journal, scientists have discovered that treating high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes may lower risk of Alzheimer's disease
Researchers followed 837 people with mild cognitive impairment, the stage of memory loss that often leads to Alzheimer's disease.
Of the group, 414 had at least one vascular risk factor.
Participants were given blood tests and a medical history questionnaire and also underwent other tests that measured blood pressure, body mass, memory and thinking skills.
After five years, 298 people developed Alzheimer's disease.
The others still had mild cognitive impairment.
People with risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease and high cholesterol were two times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those without vascular risk factors.
A total of 52 per cent of those with risk factors developed Alzheimer's disease, compared to 36 per cent of those with no risk factors.
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