Alzheimer's test holds promise
(US FDA usually follows advice)
Please Help Support Alzheimer's Research Today!
Your Alzheimer's donation will help billions live without it.
An advisory committee to the US Food and Drug Administration recommended unanimously yesterday that the agency approve the first test — a brain scan — that can show the characteristic plaques of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of a living person.
The approval hinged on radiologists agreeing on what the scans say and doctors being trained in how to read the scans.
Plaques are part of the criteria for having Alzheimer’s — if a person with memory problems does not have plaques, that person does not have Alzheimer’s. But without the scan, the only way to know if plaques are present is to do an autopsy.
Alzheimer’s specialists said they expected that if the scan were approved it would come into widespread use.
Indian radiologists said India has the infrastructure and expertise, as well as a large older population, to adopt the new scanning technique designed to detect plaques associated with Alzheimer’s. They estimate that India has about 45 PET machines — the key tool required for brain scans with the new technique.
“After this technique has been approved by the FDA, we’ll still need to conduct local clinical trials under Indian drug laws,” said Harsh Mahajan, a consultant radiodiagnosis specialist in New Delhi, and president-elect of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association.
“It’s like a non-invasive biopsy of the brain — it can give a specific diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in the early stages of the disease,” Mahajan said. Read more: telegraphindia.com
Probiotic effect may benefit from micronutrient boost
The effects of probiotics on gut health may be boosted by a symbiotic partnership with the supplementation of certain micronutrients, according to new research. Read more: nutraingredients.com
No comments:
Post a Comment