By Amanda Gardner
TUESDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- In light of a new study that shows a long-predicted increase in the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease, researchers are reporting what could be a real advance in research into the condition.
Scientists have used PET scans to distinguish living, healthy brains from the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Right now, Alzheimer's can only be definitely identified upon autopsy.
Any breakthrough in diagnosis and treatment is important, experts say, especially since a new report released Tuesday finds that more than 5 million Americans are now suffering from Alzheimer's.
The new brain scans relied on a compound called AV-1, which binds to the beta-amyloid proteins that build up in the brain and are the hallmark of the disease.
"People with Alzheimer's had a significant 'signal' in the brain in areas known from autopsy where amyloid tends to deposit," confirmed Alan Carpenter, vice president of business development at Avid Radiopharmaceuticals in Philadelphia, which licensed the compound.
The results were presented Sunday at the 8th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Salzburg, Austria.
The results hold out the hope that doctors will one day be able to better diagnose the disease. Researchers might also use the technology to judge the effectiveness of drugs that target the amyloid beta protein. http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070320/hl_hsn/brainscanadvancecoulddiagnosealzheimers
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