Tracking Alzheimer's
Neuroscientists Find Evidence of Alzheimer's in Living Patients with Radioactive Tracers
Aug 21, 2009
By DBIS
Inside Science News Service
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Alzheimer's disease strikes one in eight Americans over age 65. While there is no cure, scientists have found a way to detect the disease in its early stages, often years before it begins attacking brain cells.
Nancy Levitt's family legacy is bittersweet. History indicates she'll live a long life, but it may not be easy. Both grandmothers, both parents, and seven of her father's eight siblings were victims of Alzheimer's.
"As long as I can remember my norm was that people got old and lost it mentally," Levitt told Ivanhoe.
She hopes a silver bullet will change her destiny. Inside it is a radioactive tracer that's giving University of California, Los Angeles neuroscientists a head start on Alzheimer's.
The tracer is injected into a patient's arm. Once it reaches the brain, it binds to the abnormal plaques and tangles -- the marks of Alzheimer's disease. During a PET scan, those lesions light up in the memory areas of the brain. The warmer the colors become, the more plaque and tangles in the brain.
Until now, these lesions -- thought to disrupt brain cell transmission -- could only be verified after death in an autopsy.
"Now for the first time we have the technology that allows us to see in living people the buildup of these abnormal plaques and tangles in the brain," Gary Small, M.D., director of the Memory and Aging Center at UCLA, said.
Dr. Small says if this tracer is linked with a new treatment that prevents lesions, it's possible to control Alzheimer's like we do high cholesterol.
"You'll go in for your brain check and the doctor will give you a medicine to delay onset or hopefully prevent Alzheimer's disease in the future," Dr. Small explained.
Until that day, Levitt hopes a diet rich in antioxidant "brain" foods will keep her mind sharp for decades to come.
The new scanning technique, along with patient history, will help doctors target those who could benefit by early intervention. They say it will also be a great tool in testing new treatments.
