Towards Early Alzheimer's Diagnosis
If it is the case that Alzheimer's is a form of diabetes, sensible lifestyle choices could have a large effect in the earliest stages of the condition - as they do for diabetes. There is no present method for detecting the earliest onset of Alzheimer's, however - but scientists are working on it. From EurekAlert!: "an update on progress and new findings on his optical tests for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease ... Goldstein will present "proof of concept" evidence obtained in mice that the tests can detect early molecular signs of the disease in the eye even before Alzheimer's pathology is present in the brain. This achievement raises hopes for detecting the disease at its earliest stages and slowing the progression of the disease to a crawl. ... these techniques have been tested in a Phase I trial in humans with phase III multicenter human clinical trials slated for next year. In the end, the tests could cost less than $300 per test."
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/osoa-otf100306.php