Healthcare experts make Alzheimer's breakthrough

As 60 per cent of people suffering from dementia have Alzheimer's, healthcare specialists are constantly looking for ways to combat the disease.

Experts in Sweden may have made a breakthrough which could help prevent the onset of a condition that affects 700,000 people in the UK.

According to experts at the University of Gothenburg, a combination of proteins in the spinal fluid may be able to identify which patients with early symptoms of dementia will subsequently develop severe Alzheimer's disease.

This could have a radical affect on the provision of treatment for people with affordable medical insurance who show signs of contracting the condition, said Dr Niklas Mattsson, a member of Kaj Blennow's group at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the establishment.

He pointed out that there are currently many Alzheimer's medications on the market, but these must often be used at an early stage in order to be fully beneficial to the patient.

This could be achieved if those showing signs of developing Alzheimer's are spotted early, he added.

"These methods make it easier to identify the disease, which is essential for making a correct diagnosis early on These biomarkers may be useful both in research to develop new medicines and in point-of-care diagnostics, where they can support clinical diagnostics," Dr Mattsson explained.

As there are also 15,000 younger people in the UK who have the condition, and there are expected to be over one million people of all ages by 2025, the specialist said that the results may be particularly relevant.

People with individual health insurance may now be able to benefit sooner rather than later, as extra clinical trials have confirmed the effectiveness of the treatment and drugs may soon be available for mass production, though an exact date is yet to be determined.

"I'm reluctant to speculate, but there is a lot of exciting research under way, and new medicines are under development," Dr Mattsson concluded.

By Stephen Tate

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