Neuroscience
From today's New York Times:
New Chemical Is Said to Provide Early Sign of Alzheimer’s Disease
By REUTERS
The New York Times
Published: December 21, 2006
chem
Originally uploaded by rissera.
A chemical designed by doctors in Los Angeles could give earlier signals of Alzheimer’s disease and provide a new way to test treatments, a study has shown.
Currently, the only way to diagnose the disease is to remove brain tissue or to perform an autopsy.
The new study, to be published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, is by doctors at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is part of a larger quest to find a better method to diagnose the condition using tracers that can be detected with a positron emission tomography, or PET, scan.
The new chemical, called FDDNP, attaches to abnormal clumps of proteins called amyloid plaques and nerve cell tangles that develop in Alzheimer’s sufferers and inhibit messages being processed by the brain.
In the study, Dr. Gary Small and his colleagues discovered that the chemical allowed doctors to pick out which of 83 volunteers had Alzheimer’s, which had mild memory problems and which were functioning normally for their age.
It was 98 percent accurate in determining the difference between Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impairment, which surpassed the 87 percent success rate for a PET scan test that measured sugar metabolism in the brain, and the 62 percent accuracy rate when doctors used a magnetic resonance imaging.
The FDDNP signal can be seen in people years before they develop Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Small said.
[ ... Read the full article ... ]
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Neuroscience
Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease and FDDNP
From today's New York Times:
New Chemical Is Said to Provide Early Sign of Alzheimer’s Disease
By REUTERS
The New York Times
Published: December 21, 2006
chem
Originally uploaded by rissera.
A chemical designed by doctors in Los Angeles could give earlier signals of Alzheimer’s disease and provide a new way to test treatments, a study has shown.
Currently, the only way to diagnose the disease is to remove brain tissue or to perform an autopsy.
The new study, to be published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, is by doctors at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is part of a larger quest to find a better method to diagnose the condition using tracers that can be detected with a positron emission tomography, or PET, scan.
The new chemical, called FDDNP, attaches to abnormal clumps of proteins called amyloid plaques and nerve cell tangles that develop in Alzheimer’s sufferers and inhibit messages being processed by the brain.
In the study, Dr. Gary Small and his colleagues discovered that the chemical allowed doctors to pick out which of 83 volunteers had Alzheimer’s, which had mild memory problems and which were functioning normally for their age.
It was 98 percent accurate in determining the difference between Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impairment, which surpassed the 87 percent success rate for a PET scan test that measured sugar metabolism in the brain, and the 62 percent accuracy rate when doctors used a magnetic resonance imaging.
The FDDNP signal can be seen in people years before they develop Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Small said.
[ ... Read the full article ... ]
- Alzheimer's Disease
In Preventing Alzheimer’s, Mutation May Aid Drug Quest The New York Times By GINA KOLATA 11 July 2012 [snip] Two decades ago, researchers began discovering rare gene mutations that cause Alzheimer’s disease in all who inherit them. Now, they have...
- Fda: Pcns Drugs Advisory Committee Results For Avid's Amyvid Alzheimer's Amyloid Neuroimaging Agent
A fuller report from The New York Times: F.D.A. Sees Promise in Alzheimer’s Imaging Drug By GINA KOLATA The New York Times Published: January 20, 2011 "A committee voted that the agency should approve the first test that can show the characteristic...
- Dilemma Of Ever Earlier Diagnosis Of Alzheimer's Disease
Gina Kolata has written a fine piece inThe New York Times: Early Tests for Alzheimer’s Pose Diagnosis Dilemma By GINA KOLATA The New York Times Published: December 17, 2010 "Since there is no treatment, doctors wonder if they should tell people, years...
- Alzheimer's: Impaired Beta-amyloid Clearance
From the NIH: Impaired clearance, not overproduction of toxic proteins, may underlie Alzheimer’s disease 09 December 2010 In Alzheimer's disease, a protein fragment called beta-amyloid accumulates at abnormally high levels in the brain. Now researchers...
- Alzheimer's Disease (ad): Dementia Telephone Screening
Tomorrow's Sunday New York Times Magazine is its annual new ideas of the past year issue. Among the many shiny ideas presented is telephone screening for dementia: Alzheimer’s Telephone Screening By RON FEEMSTER The New York Times Published: December...