Researchers on the Long Road to an Early Alzheimer's Blood Test

According to Janet Raloff in Science News for May 12, 2007, we may be on the way to a blood test that predicts whether you are in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Stina Maria Tucker and Juan Troncoso, both of the Department of Pathology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, have been doing tests on mice genetically engineered to develop amyloid-beta clumps in their brains, the way Alzheimer's patients do.

The scientists injected the mice with an antibody that binds to amyloid-beta protein. Some hours later, they withdrew blood and were able to measure the amount of amyloid-beta in circulation.

Normal mice showed no extra amyloid-beta. Surprisingly, mice that had already developed serious clumps in the brain showed no extra amyloid-beta, either. Only mice that were just beginning to develop the Alzheimer's-like clumps showed extra amyloid-beta in their blood.

This doesn't mean that we'll have a test for Alzheimer's any time soon. But it does hold out hope in two lines - one, that someday there will be a simple blood test that catches Alzheimer's before symptoms are noticeable, and two, that procedures could be developed to slow production of amyloid-beta, or to get rid of the excess before it forms clumps. This would be useful in more than one disease, as other forms of brain disease are also connected with amyloid-beta.

Troncoso's lab has been working on a vaccine for mice that would decrease amyloid-beta deposition in the brain [http://www.alzresearch.org/team.cfm?ID=2]. Tucker's work [http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:16279840] has suggested strongly that the vaccine would have to be given very early in the progression of the disease, as the clumps appear to be quite stable, once formed.

Meanwhile, as the scientists pursue their laudable work, we are left with suggestions from the Alzheimer's Society of Canada, whose website emphasizes keeping the brain healthy. One suggestion they have, which would not have occurred to many of us, is to wear your helmet! Falls and accidents that involve brain trauma, especially concussion, are apparently a risk factor for Alzheimer's. All those action movies, where the hero is knocked out and brushes it off - who would have thought he was risking dementia in old age?

The other suggestions involve keeping your brain active with hobbies, puzzles and new learning challenges; keeping your social life full with family, friends, and volunteer work; and keeping your body healthy with exercise and healthy diet. That's good advice on many fronts.

Possible dementia is perhaps the most frightening thing about old age, but studies on it are ongoing. One way to exercise your brain may be to try to keep up with it with the progress of the research!