Newswise — Testing for some inflammatory proteins associated with the nervous and immune systems will help diagnose the earlier onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a Rutgers study.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, analyzed 15 cerebrospinal fluid proteins related to cells in the nervous and immune systems in 382 participants. The researchers found that a group of proteins represented by TNFR1 were associated with slower decline in the very early stage of Alzheimer’s, while another protein called TREM2 was only useful once dementia set in.
Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the fifth-leading cause of death among Americans age 65 or older. Although scientists have been able to diagnose the disease for many years, they have been unable to identify when people with the earliest cognitive…
