First Proven Diagnostic Test For Alzheimer's

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 31, 2009 @12:20PM from the peace-of-mind-or-otherwise dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A test that can confirm or rule out Alzheimer's disease at an early stage has been shown effective by US pathologists. 'With this test, we can reliably detect and track the progression of Alzheimer's disease,' said lead researcher Leslie Shaw with the University of Pennsylvania's Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative in Philadelphia. ... The new test is detailed in the journal Annals of Neurology. It measures the cerebral-spinal fluid concentration of two biochemicals associated with the disease — amyloid beta42 peptide and tau protein."

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Re:spinal tap? by kylemonger · 2009-03-31 14:04 · Score: 3, Interesting

No joke. I think most people when faced with a lumbar puncture would choose to not to know, or to just start taking Aricept blind. A needle in the arm or the ass is bad enough, a needle in the spine is a whole other level of terror.