Researchers Develop First Alzheimer's Blood Test

A team of Montreal scientists found that levels of a particular hormone are a near-perfect indication of whether someone has Alzheimer's.

McGill University researchers say they have developed a blood test that can detect Alzheimer's disease in its early stages. The test looks for a hormone in patients' blood that the researchers determined was usually in short supply in Alzheimer's cases. Detecting the disease through a simple blood test will make it easier to treat patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's, when treatments aimed at curbing the disease's progress are most effective. As it stands, determining whether a patient has Alzheimer's requires going through checklists of symptoms and examining family history. The researchers hope the blood test will hasten that process and better measure the effectiveness of drug treatments.

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