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Alzheimer’s Screening
Last Updated: July 1, 2003
A potential screening tool has been identified for Alzheimer’s disease, according to a report published in May 2003.
A major study confirmed the value of potential early signs for identifying people with Alzheimer's disease. By measuring protein levels in spinal fluid scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) were able to distinguish clinically diagnosed Alzheimer’s patients from others with an 89% to 92% efficiency.
Although the potential telltale signs, or biomarkers, won’t be ready for use as predictive and diagnostic tools until completion of long-term studies now underway, these results exceed current clinical diagnostic methods, such as a doctor's evaluation of medical history, cognitive testing and brain scans.
“Perhaps the most important future use for such biomarkers is in the prospective study of people at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease,” noted Trey Sunderland, M.D., Chief, NIMH Geriatric Psychiatry Branch. “By establishing a person’s baseline and tracking levels over time, we might be able to interpret gradual changes as a sign that he or she is developing the disorder.”
To gather their data, Sunderland and colleagues performed spinal taps on 131 Alzheimer’s patients and 72 control subjects and measured CSF (colony-stimulating factor) levels of the suspect protein fragments. As the fluid that bathes the brain, CSF has long been considered the most reliable window available into a living human’s neurochemical activity. Sunderland and colleagues reported on their study in the April 23, 2003 Journal of the American Medical Association.
“We’re hopeful that biomarkers will eventually be developed to help detect incipient illness in younger people who are at risk but who may not yet show any symptoms,” Sunderland said. “Clues from biochemical, genetic and brain imaging studies could point to new possibilities for preventive interventions.”
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