from Reuters.com

In July of this year, Reuters reported that new tests assessing brain changes and body chemistry are showing promise at diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages. Studies presented at an Alzheimer’s Association meeting in Vienna, Austria included:

1. Irish researchers found scans measuring brain volume and a combination of memory tests accurately identified nearly 95 percent of people who had progressed from mild cognitive impairment to early Alzheimer’s disease.  Michael Ewers of Trinity College Dublin and colleagues studied 345 participants in the ADNI study with mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to Alzheimer’s. They looked at an array of tests and found three memory tests plus MRI measurements of brain volume in the left hippo campus — a region closely linked to memory — were most predictive of disease progression.
2. U.S. researchers found that a type of brain scan that measures glucose combined with low scores on memory tests was a strong predictor of disease progression. Susan Landau of the University of California, Berkeley used data on 85 patients and found positron emission tomography scans that measure glucose in the brain and poor memory recall were strong predictors. People who did poorly on these measures were 15 times more likely to progress to Alzheimer’s within two years.
3. A team at Duke University in North Carolina led by Dr. Allen Roses found that a gene called TOMM40 raises Alzheimer’s risk. The gene predicted the age of Alzheimer’s development within a five- to seven-year window in people over 60. It is closely linked to another Alzheimer’s gene called APOE4. Both APOE4 and TOMM40  account for an estimated 85-90 percent of the genetic effect according to Roses.

As was mentioned in Part 1, there’s progress, but we still have a long ways to go to find an effective test. But even if we were to have a conclusive test, doctors still have very few effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. And still, as it has been for a long time, only an autopsy will reveal definitively whether or not a person truly has Alzheimer’s disease.

Although there is still no conclusive test for the determination of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), there is hope and occasionally, new information. Last month, Science Daily reported that:

Elderly people exhibiting memory disturbances that do not affect their normal, daily life suffer from a condition called “mild cognitive impairment” (MCI). Some MCI patients go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease within a few years, whereas other cases remain stable, exhibiting only benign senile forgetfulness. It is crucial to develop simple, blood-based tests enabling early identification of these patients that will progress in order to begin therapy as soon as possible, potentially delaying the onset of dementia.

A group of investigators, led by Professor Massimo Tabaton of the University of Genoa, Italy, have data that sheds light on this issue. The results of their research are published in the October issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The investigators report that the concentration in blood of amyloid beta “42,” the toxic molecule that is believed to be the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease, is, on average, higher in MCI cases that went on to develop Alzheimer’s disease approximately three years later. The values of amyloid beta in blood vary considerably among the patient groups examined (MCI that develop Alzheimer’s disease; MCI stable; normal subjects). “This variability is likely very important,” Dr. Tabaton noted and went on to add, “but means that this needs further work before we can use this test for a definitive diagnosis.” For example, the scientists are going to set up a test that picks up a variant of amyloid beta potentially more specific of the disease.

There’s progress, but we still have a long ways to go to find an effective test. A conclusive blood test would certainly be ideal. But even if we were to have a conclusive test, doctors still have very few effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. And still, as it has been for a long time, only an autopsy will reveal definitively whether or not a person truly had Alzheimer’s.