Brain Scan to Diagnose Alzheimer's

A PET scan that can identify early signs of dementia in under 60 minutes has been developed by scientists. The PET scan measures the activity in the brain.

Forty-four healthy people were studied, 40 with Alzheimer's and 94 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

In the healthy group the scan showed high levels of brain activity by measuring the amount of glucose being used by the cells in the brain, but those with MCI and Alzheimer's the activity was reduced.

Experts believe it will give doctors conclusive proof that a patient is set to develop Alzheimer's.

At the moment patients have six months of memory tests before they can receive any results about their condition.

Prof Karl Herholz, who led the research at Manchester University, said this could rapidly speed up the process of finding a drug to stop the disease progressing.

"The scan takes 10 to 20 minutes and the evaluation takes 30 minutes," the Daily Express quoted him as saying.

Source: ANI