Someday in the not too distant future,a highly accurate blood test that predicts Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment may be widely available.A major advance toward such a test was recently made with a biomarker study led by Howard J Federoff,MD,PhD,Executive Vice President for Health Sciences and Executive Dean for the School of Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington,DC.Dr.Federoff is also a leading researcher in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The study,published in the March 9 issue of Nature Medicine,found that 10 phospholipids,or fats that make up cell membranes,were at consistently lower levels in the blood samples of those subjects who were 70+ years of age and went on to develop Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment within 2-3 years.This lipid panel distinguished with 90% accuracy between those who would progress to AD or MCI in two or three years,and those who remained normal in the near future.
The test offers the potential to identify people at risk for progressive cognitive decline and can change how patients,their families and treating physicians plan for and manage the disorder,according to Dr.Federoff.A much larger and more diverse study needs to be done to confirm the findings of the paper,which Dr.Federoff hopes to use for a clinical trial of a new drug to delay or prevent emergence of the disease.No such drugs are available today,perhaps because,until now,they have been tested at too late a stage of the disease,when it has become irreversible.
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