New Test to Detect Alzheimer’s
Medical researchers have found a way to identify Alzheimer’s disease years before people develop symptoms. The test samples spinal fluid, looking for amyloid beta, a protein fragment that forms plaques in the brain and tau, another protein that accumulates in dead and dying nerve cells in the brain.
Plaque build-up in the brain is a hallmark of the disease so detection of these proteins well before symptoms start will help focus research on ways to stop these proteins from accumulating.
The study included more than 400 patients in their 70s. Of these, 200 had memory problems, 102 had Alzheimer’s and 114 had no memory impairment. Of those with Alzheimer’s, nearly all had the characteristic plaque build-up noted in their spinal fluid while 75% of those with some memory problems had Alzheimer’s-like spinal fluid proteins. Each of these patients went on to develop Alzheimer’s within a five year period. About 33% of those with normal memory also showed these proteins indicating that they will probably develop memory problems.
Those who participated in the study were not told their results. The dilemma is that at this point in time, since there are no treatments to prevent the disease, how widely available should these tests be? Who should be tested? What happens when we start to label people as “pre-Alzheimer’s”? How will this impact their health/life or term insurance? How much information will be available to their employer?
The point of early detection is early treatment but we simply do not know how to prevent the disease nor do we have medication that can do any more than slow the progression of Alzheimer’s for a very short period of time.
Hopefully as testing for Alzheimer’s becomes more refined, treatment options will widen as we learn more about how these proteins are triggered and what causes them to proliferate. Further reading about the study results can be found online at the Archives of Neurology and at the NY Times.
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