Blood test identifies key Alzheimer's marker
Currently, the only way to detect amyloid beta in the brain is via PET scanning, which is expensive and not widely available, or a spinal tap, which is invasive and requires a specialized medical procedure. But now, a study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that measures of amyloid beta in the blood have the potential to help identify people with altered levels of amyloid in their brains or cerebrospinal fluid. Ideally, a blood-based screening test would identify people who have started down the path toward Alzheimer's years before they could be diagnosed based on symptoms . "Our results demonstrate that this amyloid beta blood test can detect if amyloid has begun accumulating in the brain," said Randall J. Bateman, MD, the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology and the study's senior author. "This is exciting because it could be the basis for a rapid and inexpensive blood screeni...