Scientists closer to blood test for Alzheimer's

British scientists on Monday announced a major step forward in developing a blood test that could predict the onset of Alzheimer's, potentially helping the search for a cure.
      
Researchers identified blood proteins that appear in patients subsequently diagnosed with the brain-wasting disease, the most common form of dementia.
      
A test to diagnose the disease early on would allow researchers to identify patients who could take part in trials to develop new treatments to halt the condition.
      
The study published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia monitored 220 patients with mild cognitive impairment.
      
"Many of our drug trials fail because by the time patients are given the drugs, the brain has already been too severely affected," said Oxford University neuroscience professor Simon Lovestone, who led the study at King's College London.
      
"A simple blood test could help us identify patients at a much earlier stage to take part in new trials and hopefully develop treatments which could prevent the progression of the disease.        

"The next step will be to validate our findings in further sample sets."       

The researchers identified 10 proteins that were present in the blood of 87 percent of those in the group who went on to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's within a year.
      
Alzheimer's, caused by toxic proteins that destroy brain cells, is the most common form of dementia.
      
Worldwide, 35.6 million people suffer from the fatal degenerative disease, which is currently incurable, and there are 7.7 million new cases every year, according to a 2012 report from the World Health Organization (WHO).    ...