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:Thank goodness:

[c0lo]

I hope that an easy text will be developed from this in the next few years. I couldn't imagine walking into a haze of Alzheimer's without knowing about it. This is one of those tests that I will ABSOLUTELY not be missing once I book it in.

:) Suggestion: make sure you make a note - actually, many of them - and post them all over in your home: this is to avoid the risk of forgetting about the test by the time it gets approved :)

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

[dissy]

Yes, because news reporters don't know how to be accurate or consistent, lets just ignore and discredit the real scientists work :/