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Promising Blood Test for Alzheimer's

Posted by kdawson on from the results-look-good-i-forget-why dept.

The online edition of the British journal Nature Medicine has a study of a blood test for Alzheimer's disease, developed at Stanford. The test lights up if 18 specific molecules are present in a blood sample. Using samples of stored blood, the test proved 90% accurate in identifying people who had been diagnosed with the disease by other methods. It was also 87% accurate in distinguishing samples from people who do not have Alzheimer's but exhibit some other form of dementia. The numbers of samples involved were small — SFGate's writeup has some details. The Mercury News's article says the test's developers want to begin selling it to laboratories in 2008, for which FDA approval would not be required. They hope to get FDA approval for general use by 2009.

2 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Politicians by TimSSG · · Score: 0, Troll

    Can we require candidates for public office to take the test? Tim S

  2. Re:I love it... by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 0, Troll

    No mod points today for me, so let me just say it: that's damn funny. Perhaps to those of us who haven't watched someone close to them die from the disease over a period of years.