The breakthrough blood test that could help you find out if you suffer from Alzheimer's
A quick and simple blood test for Alzheimer’s disease is being developed by scientists.
The breakthrough technique could greatly speed up the diagnosis of those already suffering memory problems, allowing them to start on drug treatment when it will still be of benefit.
The test could also speed up the development of revolutionary drugs, which means that in the future it may be possible to stop the disease in its tracks.
Answer: A simple blood test, like above, could reveal to those suffering from memory problem whether they'll get Alzheimer's. (Picture posed by models)
It could also be tweaked to pick up other illnesses, from multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease to cancer, say U.S. researchers.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia affect 700,000 Britons and their families, and the number is expected to double within a generation. There is no cure and existing drugs do not work for everyone. Current diagnosis is based on memory tests and expensive brain scans.
DNA 'EXPLOSIONS' CAUSE OVERNIGHT CANCERS
The mystery of ‘instant cancers’ – tumours that seem to appear out of nowhere – has been solved by British scientists.
In some cases, a single ‘explosion’ in a cell can cause as much damage to the DNA as decades of hard living.
Repairing the damage is beyond the cell, so it sticks chromosomes together wrongly, leaving the cell ripe for the rapid development of cancer.
The finding, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge, suggests that no matter how healthy some people are, fate is conspiring against them.
Of 750 tumours studied, at least one in 40 didn’t fit standard patterns, and the damage appeared to have been done almost overnight, the journal Cell reports.
For bone cancers, the figure was one in four.
The researchers aren’t sure what triggers such catastrophic cell damage but possible culprits include X-rays and sunburn.
But decisive proof of the disease usually only comes from examining the brain after death.
Labs around the world are trying to pinpoint chemicals, proteins and antibodies that are in the blood of Alzheimer’s patients but not in healthy people.
The U.S. team, from Scripps Research Institute in Florida, manufactured thousands of molecules in the hope that some would react with antibodies made by the immune systems of Alzheimer’s sufferers.
When they ran blood samples over the manmade molecules, three produced strong reactions, the journal Cell reports. Further samples showed the test to be 93 per cent accurate.
So far, only small numbers of people have been studied, but the team hopes to have results from thousands more within a few months.
Researcher Thomas Kodadek said: ‘We should be able to see disease perhaps three to five years prior to symptoms. Patients at that early stage would provide a far higher chance of potential drugs showing clear effects in clinical trials.
‘The current state, where demented people are being treated, is pretty bad since no drug is going to reverse neurodegeneration.’
Dr Kodadek hopes to use the technique to create a test for pancreatic cancer – one of the most deadly forms of the disease.
Learning more about the antibodies the body produces when fighting cancer could also help develop vaccines. ‘That’s the dream scenario,’ he said.
Dr Simon Ridley, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said the work was at an early stage but added: ‘Detecting Alzheimer’s and other dementias early is essential. The Trust is investing in new ways to diagnose dementia including blood tests and brain scans.
‘Findings like these underline the importance of research.’