Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease early is something of a Holy Grail for scientists as it enables treatment to be provided to slow down the progress of the disease. Researchers from the Bayer pharmaceutical company in Germany have been using a substance called florbetaben. They inject it into people and it highlights the protein plaques in people's brains (which are associated with Alzheimer's disease) when they undergo a PET (positron emission tomography) scan. A study of 213 people found that it helped to detect the illness in eight out of ten cases and had a 90% accuracy rate in people free of the condition.
You can find out more about this research at
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE56B0YZ20090712?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
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