New Test Detects Alzheimer's in Advance

A new test could completely change when people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Medical researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recently made a new biomarker test that will allow people to find out if they will live with the health condition years before it starts to affect them.


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Senior study author Thomas Karikari explained via The New York Post, "Our test identifies very early stages of tau tangle formation — up to a decade before any tau clumps can show up on a brain scan."
Alzheimer's begins to develop when tau — a naturally occurring protein — and amyloid beta build up in the brain and disrupt cell function.

Once Irregular clumps of tau — called neurofibrillary tangles — can be detected, it's usually a sign the disease will develop.
"Early detection of tangle-prone tau could identify the individuals who are likely to develop Alzheimer's-associated cognitive decline and could be helped with new generation therapies," Karikari explained.

Unfortunately, there's no cure for Alzheimer's. However, Western medicine has created drugs to slow down the mental decline.
"Amyloid beta is a kindling, and tau is a matchstick," Karikari said about how Alzheimer's manifests. "A large percentage of people who have brain amyloid-beta deposits will never develop dementia. But once the tau tangles light up on a brain scan, it may be too late to put out the fire and their cognitive health can quickly deteriorate."

Cognitive assessments, brain scans and blood tests are the most common ways of detecting the disease. However, it usually takes numerous different exams to confirm a diagnosis.
"Early detection is key to more successful therapies for Alzheimer's disease since trials show that patients with little-to-no quantifiable insoluble tau tangles are more likely to benefit from new treatments than those with a significant degree of tau brain deposits," Karikari noted.