The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, are based on measuring certain proteins in the blood.
New Delhi:
Scientists announced today that they have devised a new way to detect rare forms of dementia and other neurological diseases through a blood test.
According to a research team at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), blood markers can detect not only frontotemporal dementia (FTD) but also the neurological diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).
FTD, ALS, and PSP form a spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases with overlapping symptoms characterized by dementia, behavioral symptoms, paralysis, muscle atrophy, movement disorders, and other severe disabilities.
The findings, published in Nature Medicine, are based on measuring certain proteins in the blood that act as biomarkers.
The study also involved the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and other research institutions in Germany and Spain.
“So far there is no cure for any of these diseases. Also, current methods do not allow a definitive diagnosis of the molecular pathology of these diseases while the patient is alive, because this requires examining brain tissue,” explained Professor Anja Schneider, research group leader at DZNE.
The researchers found that, barring certain mutations, PSP, behavioral variants of FTD, and the majority of ALS cases can be recognized by blood tests, and this is also true for their underlying pathology.
“Our study is the first to discover pathology-specific biomarkers. Initial applications will be in research and treatment development, but in the longer term we see it realistic that these biomarkers could also be used in routine diagnostics in medicine,” said Schneider, who is also affiliated with the University of Bonn.
The results are based on data and blood samples from a total of 991 adults from study populations in Germany and Spain.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
