How have they done it?
Agneta Norberg, Henry Engler and Bengt Laangstroem use PET scans(Positron Emission Tomography) and a fluorescent substance called tioflovin that attaches itself to the proteins known to be associated with communication between brain cells in people with Alzheimer's.
What implications does this have for people with Alzheimer's disease?
It means that Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia can be detected very early on in the disease process. This will help scientist scientist analyse the disease, how it develops and how best to intervene.
It will allow early intervention with drugs that slow the progress of the disease.
It will help show how drugs used for the disease are acting on the brain and hopefully result in others that have a greater theraputic effect.
This is another piece of evidence that gives hope to the estimated 18 million people who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
