Alzheimer’s disease affects 5.4 million Americans. It’s the sixth leading cause of death in this country and right now doctors have no way to prevent, cure or even slow the disease.
A new discovery
Those suffering with Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia that causes memory loss, don’t know how quickly the symptoms will progress. For each patient the progression is different. No one knows how fast one will lose his or her memory or how it will affect other cognitive behavior. However, researchers led by staff at Johns Hopkins believe a blood test could give people an idea of how quickly the disease will spread.
“Accurately predicting the pace of cognitive decline would help patients and caregivers better prepare and, if treatments are developed, help doctors aggressively target those whose descent into dementia is likely to be accelerated,” a press release said.
The research shows there are markers in blood that may be a good indicator of time.
“We’re confident there’s a relationship between these lipids and AD progression, but this work is not yet ready to be used clinically,” according to Michelle Mielke, Ph.D., adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and lead author of an article about the work published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The next step
Mielke believes many of the clinical trials going on right now aren’t making much of dent in finding a cure for the disease.
“None of the other compounds in clinical trials to date are showing any benefits,” he said. “Perhaps we need to shift our focus. The answers could be in these lipids, which can be measured in the blood.”
Mielke believes more research needs to be done and would like to see how far these markers could lead them in the improvement of Alzheimer’s.
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