From: unk...@googlegroups.com   
      
   Posted by: Anna Tan, RN  October 29, 2014   
      
   Personalized Treatment Alzheimer's Symptoms   
      
   A group of investigators from the University of Melbourne, Australia recently   
   developed a simple blood test that could very well change the future of   
   diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease, and may ultimately be a driving force behind   
   the improvement of patient    
   outcomes, as it allows earlier detection of this type of dementia.   
      
   Alzheimer's Australia estimates about 70% of 332,000 dementia cases in the   
   country will progress to Alzheimer's disease. Lead investigator Andrew Hill   
   explained in an article on ABC Australia recently that an early diagnosis is   
   crucial to improving    
   patient outcome with this type of neurodegenerative disease, as the damage has   
   been shown to be irreversible. A considerable number of studies have also   
   shown the efficacy of positive lifestyle changes in reducing the risk of   
   developing Alzheimer's, when    
   implemented early on.   
      
   It was not long ago when this same group of researchers successfully   
   identified characteristic neurological changes through costly brain imaging   
   techniques as soon as 20 years before disease onset, but after a recent   
   genetic analysis of patients with    
   Alzheimer's disease followed by a comparison of health individuals. As a   
   result, Hill and his team moved closer to designing a simpler method of   
   detecting it.   
      
   The initial phase of the study involved 50 participants, half of which were   
   diagnosed with Alzheimer's. From their mRNA, the researchers were able to   
   identify 16 exosomes out of a total of 1,400 that had characteristic   
   alterations strongly associated    
   with the disease. They repeated the study, this time without prior knowledge   
   of the participants' diagnoses, and were able to detect the disease with an   
   impressive 91% accuracy. This was then followed by standard brain imaging,   
   which helped confirm their    
   findings.   
      
   "We just are basically looking for a marker of Alzheimer's disease using a   
   simple laboratory test that measures the number of these microRNAs in the   
   blood samples," Hill said.   
      
   This technique utilizing mRNA alterations took 2-3 years to develop. Hill said   
   their breakthrough blood test for Alzheimer's could reach the market 3-5 years   
   from now, after a much larger sample size is tested. Additionally, the team   
   will be looking into    
   possibly applying this technique and test in diagnosing other degenerative   
   conditions such as Parkinson's disease.   
      
      
      
   http://alzheimersnewstoday.com/2014/10/29/blood-test-detects-alz   
   eimers-disease-before-symptoms-appear/   
      
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