Patients at risk of needing more Alzheimer’s care may benefit from a new test that scientists say will allow them to see how well treatments are affecting one of the underlying causes of the disease.
Researchers at Washington University of St. Louis found that they were able to monitor the levels of a protein thought to cause the disease’s progression by giving participants a modified version through an intr
avenous drip, then measuring how much of the modified protein remains in spinal fluid.
By stopping the drip, they could see how the body was using the therapy to eliminate the protein over a 36-hour period.
The scientists are hopeful that the test "may help to eliminate much of that guesswork" involved in determining whether or not treatments are effective, according to Dr Randall Bateman.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive neurological disease that with more than 71,000 deaths resulting from its effects on the brain, and is rated seventh in causes of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control.
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