Alzheimer’s telltale protein

As if ….. creeping forgetfulness it causes were not horrible enough, Alzheimer's disease carries …. extra burden: …. person must be dead before doctors can identify …. disorder with absolute certainty. …. discovery announced last week, however, could result in …. simple and accurate skin test for ….living patients. …. finding may also lead to ….new treatment for …. incurable illness believed to afflict up to 4 million Americans.

Just how Alzheimer's ravages …. brain isn't understood, but …. protein molecule is thought to be involved. This protein, which pathologists look for in ….brain tissue after …. suspected Alzheimer's sufferer has died, is also present in easily accessible skin cells, …. new research indicates. Dr Dennis Selkoe and colleagues at …. Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found …. protein in the skin of 8 out of 11 people with Alzheimer's disease who had died. Selkoe's test must be confirmed by other laboratories and made easy to do on …. large scale. But he is optimistic that …. reliable skin test may be only two or three years away.

…. finding suggests …. fresh strategy for attacking …. disease. Scientists have been trying to perfect drugs "capable of repairing …. damage Alzheimer's does to …. brain. On …. theory that …. protein causes …. disorder by traveling from other tissues to …. brain, ….researchers may now seek to devise drugs that would block …. protein before it gets there.

US News and World Report (AmE)