Blood test accurate in identifying Alzheimer's

A team of scientists primarily led by researchers at Stanford University say they have developed a blood test that is 90 percent accurate in identifying Alzheimer's, often years before its worst symptoms become evident. Diagnosing Alzheimer's has been difficult and the field has been dependent on drugs that are often notoriously ineffective. A test that could universally diagnose most patients at a very early stage would be extremely helpful--once drug developers gain approvals for experimental therapies in the pipeline to treat the disease.

To develop the right biomarker, explains The New York Times' Andrew Pollack, scientists focused on proteins involved in communications between cells. They found that they could distinguish Alzheimer's patients by focusing on 18 proteins, with the test scoring 90 percent accuracy when compared against clinical diagnosis.

- here's the article from The New York Times

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