Home Health & Hospice Week

Telltale proteins may single out which patients will get full-blown disease. A combination of proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid could help single out which patients with dementia will go on to develop full-blown Alzheimer's disease. The results of a major international study conducted by a research team at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, confirmed early studies that hinted at this link, according to a recent press release. While there is currently no medication that can change the course of Alzheimer's, it's likely that medicines under development will have the biggest impact if they are used early on, said Dr. Niklas Mattsson of the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Gothenburg's Sahlgrenska Academy. Changes in the brain are reflected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the form of biomarkers, researchers found. Previous smaller studies have shown that finding the proteins beta-amyloid, tau, and phosphorylated tau in the CSF [...]