In a study published on Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine, an international team of researchers describe 18 cell-signaling, or communication, proteins found in blood that predicted with 90 percent accuracy whether a person would develop Alzheimer's disease.
They said tests to detect changes in these proteins could be used to predict the disease two to six years ahead of its onset and may be useful in the search for treatments.
"This is very exciting," said Dr. Tony Wyss-Coray, a researcher at Stanford University and head of geriatric research at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in California.
"We show there are very interesting changes going on with patients with Alzheimer's disease. These changes occur early on in the disease process," Wyss-Coray said in a telephone interview.
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease that robs people of memory, reasoning and the ability to communicate. According to the World Health Organization, about 18 million people worldwide have the disease.
Currently, doctors diagnose Alzheimer's disease by excluding other potential causes of memory loss, such as stroke, tumors and heavy drinking. They can also administer simple paper-and-pencil tests...
Via Reuters
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