Skip to main content

Alzheimer's blood test detects disease decades before symptoms, aiding drug search

By
Researchers have yet to find a drug that reverses the effects of Alzheimer's once they start to show, and the repeated failures have been crushing. But two recent studies on blood tests might help turn the tide by helping develop more effective treatments.

Researcher Dr. Randall Bateman of Washington University in St. Louis unveiled a blood test this past summer that can detect Alzheimer's decades before a patient shows physical symptoms. Then this past January a Japanese and Australian team published a study in Nature about a blood test that can detect Alzheimer's with 90 percent accuracy.

A key characteristic of Alzheimer's is the buildup of a protein called amyloid beta in the brain. This toxic protein can cause dementia. Amyloid has been the overwhelming target of clinical drug trials in the Alzheimer's field. Bateman estimates the blood test can detect amyloid up to 20 years before a person will develop Alzheimer's.

The blood tests use mass spectrometry to detect amyloid beta. Dr. Koichi Tanaka, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, first developed mass spectrometry testing for proteins, and he was instrumental in the Japanese/Australian study.


Source :- abcnews
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Only international body can rule if chemical weapons used in Syria: Kremlin

By
Only an impartial investigation in Syria by an international commission can determine if allegations about the use of chemical weapons are true, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. Asked about the possibility that the United States could launch strikes on Syria over allegations that forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had used chemicals weapons, Peskov said the Kremlin hoped that nothing would be done that breaches international law. Source :- yahoonews
Post a Comment
Read more

After Park, former South Korean President Lee summoned over bribery allegations

By
South Korean prosecutors have called former President Lee Myung-bak to appear for questioning over allegations he took bribes when in office, a prosecutor said on Tuesday in the latest top-level political corruption scandal to rock the country. Prosecutors last month sought a 30-year jail term for former President Park Geun-hye, Lee's successor, who was ousted last year amid an influence-peddling scandal and is standing trial on charges of bribery, abuse of power and coercion. Lee was asked to present himself for questioning on March 14, the senior prosecutor said. "We must question (Lee) to reveal the truth", the prosecutor told reporters. "We expect him to show up since we gave sufficient time for him to prepare for the questioning". Lee has denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation into the bribery allegations, summoning his family and confidants and raiding their homes and offices, politically motivated. Source :- yahoonews
Post a Comment
Read more

We're open to work with Britain over incident involving ex-agent

By
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was ready to cooperate if Britain asks it for help investigating an incident involving a former Russian double agent who fell ill after exposure to an unknown substance. Sergei Skripal, once a colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service, was critically ill in hospital on Tuesday after he was exposed to an unidentified substance in southern England. "Nobody has approached us with such a request," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters, when asked if the British authorities had been in touch seeking help. "Moscow is always open for cooperation." When asked to respond to British media speculation that Russia had poisoned Skripal, Peskov said: "It didn't take them long." Calling the incident "a tragic situation," he said the Kremlin did not have information about what had happened. Source :- yahoonews
Post a Comment
Read more