Joined: 12/6/2011
Posts: 3326
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From Alzheimer's Daily News:
(Source: ScienceDaily) - An arsenal of Alzheimer's research revealed at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 59th Annual Meeting indicates that beta-amyloid plaque in the brain not only is involved in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease but may also precede even mild cognitive decline. These and other studies advance molecular imaging for the early detection of beta-amyloid, for which one product is now approved in the United States, as a major push forward in the race for better treatments.
Researchers used positron emission tomography (PET), which images physiological patterns in the body, combined with an imaging agent called F-18 florbetaben, which binds to amyloid in the brain. Study subjects who showed high levels of imaging agent binding during imaging and atrophy of the hippocampus, the memory center, had an 80 percent chance of developing Alzheimer's disease within two years, researchers said.
Go to full story: http://www.sciencedaily.com
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Joined: 4/18/2012
Posts: 21
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So now we have three PET imaging agents to predict AD:
F-18 florbetaben
C-11 PiB (Pittsburgh compound B)
(These measure tiny bits of amyloyd-beta)
and
18-F fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG)
(It measures glucose utilization)
How do we get our doctors to prescribe one of them??
Is it time for the Alzheimer's Association to set up some guidelines?
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Joined: 12/6/2011
Posts: 3326
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Good question!
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Joined: 11/29/2011
Posts: 7029
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John,
From what I gather, they are unfortunately still considered only for clinical trials. I don't know why. I've been reading, for example, about the Pittsburg Compound for years. It certainly seems to give a picture that can be quantified.
I know they are very expensive, but just think what can happen if a person is diagnosed early against the cost to society of a later diagnosis with full blown symptoms when not much can be done but slow it down a tad. And thus the cost to the family and society is much greater.
Take myself for example. I've been diagnosed over five years and still doing great. Now the chances are that, because of my age, I will die of some cause other than Alzheimer's.
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