June 09, 2016
Researchers from Rowan University’s medical school believe they’ve discovered a foolproof method to detect early stage Alzheimer’s disease.
It’s a 100 percent accurate blood test that correlates biomarkers with the mild cognitive impairment – MCI -- that comes as much as a decade before full-onset Alzheimer’s symptoms are present, the university announced.
The research was led by Dr. Robert Nagele from the university’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, whose team worked with Durin Technologies, a New Brunswick company that has worked primarily on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
The study found that 60 percent of patients with MCI have it due to an early stage of Alzheimer’s.
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“These findings could eventually lead to the development of a simple, inexpensive and relatively noninvasive way to diagnose this devastating disease in its earliest stages,” said Cassandra DeMarshall, the study's lead author, a doctoral candidate at the Rowan University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Earlier detection holds the promise of earlier treatment aimed at slowing the progress of the disease.
