Spinal-Fluid Test Confirmed To Predict Alzheimer's

omnibit writes "The New York Times reports that researchers have found a spinal-fluid test can be 100 percent accurate in identifying patients with significant memory loss who are on their way to developing Alzheimer's disease. The new study included more than 300 patients in their seventies, 114 with normal memories, 200 with memory problems, and 102 with Alzheimer's disease. Their spinal fluid was analyzed for amyloid beta, which forms plaques in the brain, and for tau, another protein that accumulates in dead and dying nerve cells in the brain. Nearly every person with Alzheimer's had the characteristic spinal fluid protein levels."

Comments

Re:100% Accurate, Nearly All of the Time!

[GNUALMAFUERTE]

Yeah, not only that, but also it says that many people without Alzheimer's turned out positive too ... so they assumed those are going to develop Alzheimer's.

It produces false negatives, and it might be producing false-positives, but we won't know until 10 or 20 years later. But it still is 100% accurate. Nice math there. This trend of early publishing non peer reviewed material while making extraordinary claims, only to never hear from it again is starting to get really old.

Re:Thank goodness:

[Have Brain Will Rent]

Yup my Dad had that done and he said it was the most painful thing he'd ever had happen... and this was a guy who grew up on a farm (a great source of pain), served years in combat during WWII and so on and so, on without ever raising a complaint.

The next time he had to go in was because of a disc problem and they essentially injected his spine with meat tenderizer to dissolve the ruptured disk away. He said compared to the spinal tap that didn't hurt at all (except for the nurse yanking his boxers off without first checking for protrusions - yikes!).

Re:Does knowing early help?

[phantomfive]

Watching my grandpa suffer through Alzheimer's, this is a real issue. At first he took it with a sense of humor, when I called he'd say, "hey, I almost forgot about you! Call more often!" But soon I could see it was really getting to him, and he was starting to withdraw into that stupor that people get into at convalescent homes.

So I forced him to be active; when he tries to tell me something, and can't think of the word, I just wait for him to spit it out, or tell him to explain it a different way. Get him active, help him see that life can be good even though he doesn't remember quite as well. I treat him like a human and make him connect to me like a human. No withdrawing into that shell just because you can't remember well. I took him to see giant trees and waves and stuff. Giant trees and waves always make you feel alive.

So now he is happier, got over his anger streak, and he doesn't worry if he can't remember everything (it doesn't matter if you can find a way to work around it).

From someone that lost his mother to Alzheimer's

[pgmrdlm]

I don't know if this is good or not. Please let me explain.

If you have ever had the misfortune of having a relative with Alzheimer disease, you know they are nothing like the person you loved and cherished. Everything from forgetfulness, to wanderings where you search the streets for them, to the extreme mood swings where they get violent. Its a terrible experience for both you and the people that have this disease.

If you are diagnosed with this disease in advance, and there are no cures? How do you tell your family and friends? What are you going to think about the pain you know that you may be putting them in?

Knowing how my mother became with this disease, if I find out that I have it and there are no cures. I don't want to put my friends and family through the same experience. I would rather drive my car into a wall at 120 miles an hour.

Just my perception, sorry.