DrConnected

Debilitating diseases that cause progressive degeneration are not only traumatic for the patient and family, but incredibly frustrating for the medical profession as there is little we can do to halt or slow them.  A breakthrough in Alzheimer’s disease could finally open the door for scientists to begin to unlock the progress and develop new ways to combat this terminal disease that feasts on the brain, rendering the patient lost to the outside world forever.

Using a radioactive compound was the idea of a team of scientist based at Johns Hopkins University School and the results show a clear difference in the brain scan images of healthy patients and those previously diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  The compound, called Florbetapir, is injected into test subjects and within 30 minutes the results are starting to emerge, by 90 a full picture can be seen.  In subjects known to have a Alzheimer’s history the accumulation in the brain of the compound was significantly higher than healthy counterparts.

Having proven reliable in all tests the safe to use compound offers a greater degree of flexibility for the physician.  It means that patients presenting with general symptoms that could potentially have one of several degenerative diseases of the brain can instantly be analyzed to see if Alzheimer’s is to blame. More importantly it allows research scientists a chance to track the progress of the disease, for the first time able to see the stages as the brain changes happen, the compound will accumulate more and in different areas as the disease progresses, and potentially this holds the key to curing, or halting the condition before complete disability has been reached.