Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Researchers Discover Blood Protein Link to Alzheimer's Disease

On Monday, July 5th, researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College in London, England revealed that a blood protein called clusterin has been linked to the development of Alzheimer's Disease.  This new discovery could lead to new tests in perhaps as little as five years where doctors could identify the disease before it is able to take hold of the patient.

The findings, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, detailed the processes used in the two "discovery phase" studies of 95 patients that linked clusterin to the early signs of Alzheimer's Disease. 

Researchers stressed that there was still a great deal of work that needed to be done with this information before clinical testing could begin by doctors.

Alzheimer's Disease is the most common, and feared, form of dementia.  It affects some 35 million people worldwide and there is no known cure for the disease.  There are drugs patients can take but they cannot cure the disease, only relieve or slightly delay the symptoms.

Read this article for more information about this interesting discovery.

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