Scientists in Maine say they’re looking into whether or not a simple eye exam could help detect Alzheimer’s disease.

The Portland Press Herald reports that the research is being done at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, with UMaine and Northern Light Health collaborating.

Tests, originally performed on mice, found that changes in blood vessels in the eyes could predict cognitive declines such as the ones brought on by Alzheimer’s. They now want to see if blood vessel damage in the eyes correspond to blood vessel damage in the brain.

One of the lab’s professors, Gareth Howell, says that if these tests prove successful with humans, they could be given at optometrist’s offices within the next few years.

“This could be huge,” Howell told the Press Herald. “You would be able to treat people prior to their cognitive decline. This is like changing the plug in a lamp before the lamp is actually broken.”

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, around seven million people in the United States have the disease, with around 29,000 of those being in Maine.

To read the original Portland Press Herald article, click here.