Researchers Seek to Diagnose Alzheimer’s Earlier

Scientists are reporting development and initial laboratory tests of an imaging agent that may detect the tell-tale signs of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain — signs that currently can’t confirm a diagnosis until after patients die. The researchers’ report appears in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.

Masahiro Ono and colleagues explain that, at present, no proven laboratory test or medical scan exists for Alzheimer’s, which is taking an increasingly heavy toll on the world’s older population. Patients are diagnosed with the disease based on their medical history and symptoms like memory loss, which often is a sign of normal aging. Right now, the only definitive way to diagnose Alzheimer’s involves an autopsy in which brain samples are examined for the presence of the clumps and tangles of an abnormal protein that occur in the disease. For more information, click here to read the full release.