Eye test helps diagnose Alzheimer's

Eye test helps diagnose Alzheimer's

Professor Francesca Cordeiro, from the Ophthalmology Institute of University College London, and her colleague Professor Stephen Moss seem to have found a way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease in a very simple eye test on mice.

The scientists, who published their findings in the online journal Cell Death and Disease, used fluorescent markers that docked on dying cells. These were then visible in the retina as green dots and could be an indication that in a brain region cells die off and so you can observe the course of the disease and a possible therapy.

As early as this year (2010), it will be tested whether the results are transferable to us humans. Since the retina is almost an everted part of the brain, opticians could in future also detect evidence of brain diseases.

Cordeiro and colleagues say they believe it possible within the next 5 years that there will be routinely opticians to run these tests. Alzheimer's (named after the German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer 1864-1915) is a neurodegenerative disease in which the brain function of those affected wears off.

Until now, only the 7 early warning signs of the US National Institute of Aging, expensive MRI scans or, following the death of those affected, an autopsy were available for diagnosis. With the method of Cordeiro and Moss in the near future it could be cheaper, easier and earlier possible to recognize this disease and make it difficult for her to progress medically. In Germany, about 700 000 people are affected by Alzheimer's and every year, about 120 000 new cases are added. (Thorsten Fischer, Naturopath Osteopathy, 17.01.2010)

More information about the topic

Report from University College with pictures
Cell Death and Disease