Apr 23, 2019 - Companies like Coke, Pepsi rush to meet demand for low-calorie drinks

From the Editor's Desk

The unexpected way we might one day diagnose Alzheimer's

How do you stop Alzheimer's disease without a simple way to diagnose it? It's a real chicken and egg problem. Discovering a treatment for Alzheimer's requires lots of clinical trials for new drugs-but it's difficult to enroll participants without a way to identify people who have the disease early enough for potential treatments to work.

Right now, the best way to diagnose the disease is through a spinal tap or a brain scan. The problem is that the former is invasive and the latter is expensive. Plus, many patients don't get these tests until they start showing signs of cognitive decline, which means the disease may already be pretty advanced. It's hard to overstate how important finding a reliable, affordable, and easy-to-use diagnostic is for stopping Alzheimer's.

The good news is that we're finally within reach of that goal thanks to significant breakthroughs over the last couple years. Scientists are pushing forward with new diagnostics that range from simple blood tests to voice analysis straight out of a sci-fi novel. We're close to reaching the point where we can push past the chicken and egg problem.

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