Fed: New skin test detects Alzheimer's

AAP General News (Australia)
12-14-2004
Fed: New skin test detects Alzheimer's

By Sharon Labi, national Medical correspondent

SYDNEY, Dec 14 AAP - Australian researchers say they have developed a skin test that
can identify people with early Alzheimer's disease and those at risk of developing dementia.

Professor Zeinab Khalil of the National Ageing Research Institute at the University
of Melbourne said Alzheimer's was a common problem but modern medicine had no reliable
early diagnostic test.

"For researchers, there are difficulties trialling new medications because you're never
absolutely sure your subjects have the condition," Prof Khalil said.

"We think we've found the holy grail of an early Alzheimer's test."

Prof Khalil said that in patients with Alzheimer's disease, a gunky material called
amyloid built up around nerve cells and seemed to interfere with the way they worked.

Amyloid is thought to cause inflammation and damage to the tiny blood vessels that
supply oxygen to the nerves.

Researchers at the University of Melbourne found this blood vessel damage could be
detected outside the brain, on the skin.

They studied blood supply to the skin in people with confirmed Alzheimer's disease,
people at risk of the condition, people with other forms of dementia and healthy elderly
people.

"What we found is that the skin test was very good at identifying people with early
Alzheimer's disease and, indeed, elderly people with mild memory impairment who are at
risk of developing dementia a few years later," Prof Khalil said.

"This test has been in the making since 1992. We started with basic laboratory research
which we then moved to the clinic to assess in patients.

"That was over five years ago and in that time we've shown that the results are reliable
and repeatable.

"It is really exciting, especially since it's an Australian development."

The researchers will present their findings at the second International Conference
on Healthy Ageing and Longevity to be held in Brisbane next March.

AAP sal/jjs/de

KEYWORD: ALZHEIMERS

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