Comment: Dr Mark Dallas on new study highlighting how measuring proteins in blood could identify early stages of Alzheimer's
Release Date 11 June 2015
Dr Mark Dallas, Lecturer in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience at the University of Reading, comments on the results of a new US study showing that measuring proteins in the blood could identify people in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, before symptoms develop.
"This study highlights the potential to detect blood borne changes in Alzheimer's patients prior to clinical symptoms developing. This is a current challenge within the field of dementia research - one that if successfully achieved would allow us to target individuals for vital clinical trials.
"The small sample size limits our interpretation of the current study. It also raises some questions with regards to distinct types of dementia showing different biological fingerprints. Although not the breakthrough we are waiting for, it offers hope that this type of research, if repeated in a larger sample size, could uncover more of the biological complexities of Alzheimer's disease."
Dr Mark Dallas
Previous research from Dr Dallas has shown that carbon monoxide found naturally in our bodies could help protect against damage from Alzheimer's proteins.
Dr Dallas is a member of the Alzheimer's Research UK's Oxford Research Network.