Brain Scans Using New Dye May Predict Alzheimer's Latest
Alzheimers News WEDNESDAY, July 11 (HealthDay News) -- Brain
scans using a new radioactive dye can detect early evidence of
Alzheimer's disease in people who show little or no signs of the
disease and may help predict future mental decline, a new study
says. It included 151 people who completed thinking and memory
tests and underwent a PET (positron emission tomography) brain
scan with the new dye called florbetapir (Amyvid). They were
then followed for three years. The dye binds to amyloid plaques
that occur in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease,
enabling doctors to see if patients have the plaques and how
much. At the start of the study, 69 patients had normal mental
function, 51 had mild impairment and 31 had Alzheimer's disease.
After 18 months, thinking and memory test results of patients
who started off with mild impairment and whose brain scans
revealed evidence of amyloid plaques worsened to a greater
degree than those who had mild im