Health Issue: TIMELY WARNING FOR BLOOD TEST

Blood test that can detect Alzheimer's  10 yrs before onset London: Coming soon: A simple bolld test which could predict Alzheimer's disease up to 10 years before symptoms appear, say scientists.         A British team is developing such a test after the scientists discovered that high levels of a protein can be an early sign of the condition, which they claim would allow much earlier prescription of treatments. In fact, the scientists at King's College London, started working on the test after they found that veryhigh levels of blood protein clusterin increase years before the first symptoms of A;zheimer's, the Daily Mail reported.         The protein may be linked with more rapid and severe memory loss, they say. The more cluster in there is, the more the brain shrinks and the more forgetful someone becomes. Lead scientist Madhav Thambisetty said, "A primary goal in Alzheimer's research is to develop an inexpensive, easily administered test to accorately detect and track the progression of this devastating disease. Identifying cluster in as a blood biomarker that may be relevant to both the pathology and symptoms of the disease may bring us closer to this goal."         Co-scientist Simon Lovestone said the test would be "ascheap as chips" He says it can be given to adults with a family history of the desease, as well as those with diabetes or other conditions that increase chances of it. The new test, described in Archives of General Psychiatry, which would be used in conjunction with existing diagnostic techniques, could help doctors distinguish normal memory lapses from early stages of dementia.