Brain scanning and Alzheimer's disease

'Developing new and more effective treatments for the millions of people worldwide who have Alzheimer's disease is an urgent priority. Developments over the last decade have greatly improved our understanding of the mechanisms leading to Alzheimer's disease, and the central role of a protein called amyloid in this process.

As a result there are now numerous exciting potential treatments in development looking at various different ways of altering the way that amyloid protein is deposited in the brain. Until now, it has only been possible to measure amyloid in the brain after people die, or making indirect estimates by measuring the levels in spinal fluid.

This new method reported by Professor Agneta Nordberg and colleagues, and similar work reported by Professor Gary Small in California, potentially offers a tremendous opportunity to measure this protein during life using a brain scanning technique with a radioactive dye that binds to the amyloid protein.

If confirmed, this will be extremely valuable in assessing the effectiveness of new treatments. In addition, as better treatments become available, it will be essential to identify people with Alzheimer's disease as early as possible in the disease process. This technique offers a potentially valuable tool to achieve this goal.

It is however important to introduce caution. This is a preliminary report and further studies are needed to confirm that this method is definitely showing the amyloid protein in the brain. Also, as there are very few of these scanners in the UK there would need to be a tremendous investment in technology if this was to be available as a clinical test.'

Professor Clive Ballard
Director of research