Sciam - cover

From the November 2009 Scientific American Mind | 0 comments

Alzheimer's Update: New Insight May Speed Therapies ( Preview )

New technologies for spotting Alzheimer's disease are poised to unravel its cause and speed progress toward effective treatments

By Joel N. Shurkin   

 


Getty Images

e-mail print comment

Key Concepts

  • New techniques for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease paint a picture of the pathology in the living, yielding biological insights that could be used to develop antidementia drugs.
  • Early diagnosis may enable treatment before symptoms appear—intervention that could halt the advance of the disease. Scientists also hope to target drugs to particular pathologies as they pop up in the brain.
  • A large number of potential treatments are in the research pipeline, and investigators believe some of them are likely to be on the market within 10 years or even sooner.

Kassie Rose, 30 years old, faces a frightening prospect: if a genetic coin toss fails to go her way, she could lose her mind within a decade or two. A mutation that causes Alz­heimer’s disease runs in her family, the DeMoes of North Dakota. The odds of any DeMoe harboring the mutation are 50–50, and if the mutation is present, the chances of developing early-onset Alzheimer’s—the type that erodes memory before age 65—are 100 percent.

Five of the six DeMoe siblings—Rose’s father and her aunts and uncles—have the mutation. One man is in a nursing home in his mid-50s; a second, younger, is on his way. A sister in her late 40s is already noticing her first symptoms. The next generation is tortured with the decision of whether to get tested. Rose, for now, chooses not to know. After all, she is unlikely to benefit much from the information: Alz­heimer’s remains incurable and, largely, unpreventable as well.

Graphic - Get the Rest of the Article
Graphic - Get the Rest of the Article
If your institution has site license access, enter here.

Read Comments (0) | Post a comment


Share
Propeller    Digg!  Reddit delicious  Fark 
Slashdot    RT @sciam Alzheimer's Update: New Insight May Speed TherapiesTwitter Review it on NewsTrust 
sharebar end

You Might Also Like


Discuss This Article


Click here to submit your comment.

VIEW:

2,573 characters remaining
 
  Email me when someone responds to this discussion.
 

risk free issue 

Sciam - cover Email:
Name:
Address:
Address 2:
City:
State:  
spacer



World Changing Ideas



Editor's Pick


Newsletter

Mind & Brain Newsletter

Get weekly coverage delivered to your inbox


 Podcasts

  • 60-Second Psych     RSS  · iTunes Dealing with Super Bowl XLIV Pressure
    click to enable

    Download

  • 60-Second Science     RSS  · iTunes Distracted Customers' Wait Times Fly
    click to enable

    Download





ADVERTISEMENT
 
 


Also on Scientific American


© 2010 Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
ADVERTISEMENT