Alzheimer's telltale protein
As if the creeping forgetfulness it causes were not horrible enough, Alzheimer's disease carries an extra burden: a person must be dead before doctors can identify the disorder with absolute certainty. A discovery announced last week, however, could result in a simple and accurate skin test of living patients. The finding may also lead to new treatment for an incurable illness believed to afflict up to 4 million Americans.
Just how Alzheimer's ravages the brain isn't understood, but a protein molecule is thought to be involved. This protein, which pathologists look for in brain tissue after a suspected Alzheimer's sufferer has died, is also present in easily accessible skin cells, the new research indicates. Dr Dennis Selkoe and colleagues at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found the protein in the skin of 8 out of 11 people with Alzheimer's disease who had died. Selkoe's test must be confirmed by other laboratories and made easy to do on a large scale. But he is optimistic that a reliable skin test may be only two or three years away.
The finding suggests a fresh strategy for attacking the disease. Scientists have been trying to perfect drugs capable of repairing the damage Alzheimer's does to the brain. On the theory that the protein causes the disorder by traveling from other tissues to the brain, researchers may now seek to devise drugs that would block the protein before it gets there.
US News and World Report (AmE)
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