A giant step forward in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease was announced in a front page article in The New York Times on June 24. A private company, Avid, working with a radio active compound patented by the University of Pennsylvania, can identify exactly which patients have plaques (clumped protein) in their brains, one of the primary pathological signs of Alzheimer’s. The ability to identify the plaques may allow physicians to begin treatment of the disease earlier, as well as enable researchers to study the effectiveness of new treatments.
PiB was the first such radio active compound used to photograph brain plaque. It was developed and tested at another Pennsylvania University, the University of Pittsburgh. As described in THE THOUSAND MILE STARE: One Family’s Journey Through the Struggle and Science of Alzheimer’s, my family, and any person who may be in line to inherit one of the three known younger onset Alzheimer’s genes, can be involved in the research (DIAN) that uses PiB to study the development of Alzheimer’s. The new compound used by Avid employs a radio active formula that is already used for about two million cancer scans a year so is more accessible for use by physicians who deal with Alzheimer’s patients of all ages.
Although it appears Avid will soon be able to market its test, it is not yet known if the screening can be made affordable for all patients who might benefit. There’s also a larger question. Using the scan, how long will it take to study and identify new, more effective, treatments? Despite these questions, a major advance in the war on Alzheimer’s has been made.
