Study Points to Possible Blood Test For Memory Decline, Alzheimer's

A new study identified a set of 10 compounds in the blood that might be used to identify older adults at risk for developing memory deficits or Alzheimer s disease. More research is needed to confirm the findings, but the study suggests one possible approach for the early identification and treatment of cognitive decline.....

.....Dr. Howard Federoff of Georgetown University Medical Center and his colleagues decided to search for biomarkers of early-stage Alzheimer's disease in circulating blood. They enrolled 525 healthy adults, ages 70 and older, in a 5-year observational study. The research was funded in part by NIH's National Institute on Aging (NIA). Results appeared online on March 9, 2014, inNature Medicine.......

......"The preclinical state of the disease offers a window of opportunity for timely disease-modifying intervention," Federoff says. "Biomarkers such as ours that define this asymptomatic period are critical for successful development and application of these therapeutics." The researchers note that the biomarker panel would require further validation in larger, diverse populations before it could be used clinically.

Read the entire study: http://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/march2014/03172014alzheimers.htm