Testing for Alzheimer’s

Over four million people have Alzheimer’s.  There wasn’t any way short of an autopsy to know conclusively where and how much of the beta-amyloid protein that short circuits the brains wiring was in the patient. Now a radioactive compound has been developed that can be injected into the veins of a patient. This compound travels and sticks to the plaques By using an imaging system similar to a CT scan which is called positron emission tomography the extent of the beta-amyloid proteins can be seen. This test performed on only nine patients and five controls holds promise that doctors may be able to be able to see a map showing the extent of the damage They can also use this brain map to assess if treatments are working.Because of support from the Jansen Research Foundation a seven minute battery of four tests have been developed to assess memory capabilities. Jansen’s is a pharmaceutical firm and they are developing a new Alzheimer’s drug called Galantamine. The purpose of the drug is to help doctors identify who would benefit from Alzheimer’s drugs.The object of these tests is that through early testing we will be able to assess the magnitude of the problem and be able someday to intervene before the brain cells and the memories they encode begin to die, and are lost forever.