The invention provides a method for assessing risk of a reurodegenerative disease or disorder in a subject. The method comprises comparing a level of anti-amyloid peptide antibody in a biological sample from a subject to a normal level, wherein a lower level in the biological sample from the subject indicates the presence of the disease or disorder. In a specific embodiment, the disease or disorder is Alzheimer's Disease (AD); in a further specific embodiment, the amyloid peptide is beta -amyloid-42 (A beta 42). In addition, the discovery that certain neurodegenerative diseases or disorders are associated with a deficiency of anti-amyloid antibodies provides a method of treating of treating such a disease or disorder in a subject. This method comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of a human anti-amyloid peptide antibody to a subject believed to suffer from the immune deficiency or disorder. For example, the disease or disorder can be Alzheimer's Disease (AD). In such an embodiment, the amyloid peptide can be beta -amyloid-42 (A beta 42).
ANTI-AMYLOID ANTIBODY BASED DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF A NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE OR DISORDER