A research institute devoted to Alzheimer's and related diseases
has teamed up with a major maker of diagnostic tests to speed
development of what could be the first test to detect
Alzheimer's in its early stages. If all goes well, the first
commercial version of the test could be available in 12 to 18
months. Early diagnosis could help patients slow progression of
the increasingly common disease, said Dr. Daniel Alkon,
scientific director of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences
Institute, based at West Virginia University and affiliated with
Johns Hopkins University. "This may be a way of monitoring how
effective a treatment is for Alzheimer's disease" as well,
through periodic retesting once scientists can develop a
medicine to stop the mind-robbing disease, Alkon said. On
Wednesday his institute announced a multimillion-dollar contract
with Inverness Medical Innovations of Waltham, Mass., which will
fund development of the Alzheimer's test and future
improvements, including an eventual home version, fo