By You Soo-sun
A Seoul National University medical team has discovered a new technique to predict Alzheimer’s disease ― the most common form of dementia in the elderly ― before patients show signs of the disease.
The discovery was announced Monday by the research group led by Professor Mook In-hee and Lee Dong-young at the university’s College of Medicine.
Prior to the discovery, detection of the disease required an expensive brain scan called positron emission tomography (PET). And this was effective only after patients showed symptoms.
Researchers focused on amyloid, a protein fragment, which may trigger Alzheimer’s when it exceeds threshold deposits. By estimating the concentration of amyloid it is possible to detect the disease before it causes damage to brain cells.
The team found a way to regulate amyloid accumulation. Using this mechanism, the new technique can predict Alzheimer’s with an accuracy rate matching 90 percent of that of a PET scan.
This also has important implications for developing applicable treatments for the disease.
Their research was published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.