A latest study led by Dr. Ville Leinonen of the University of Kuopio in Finland has found that an imaging method known as a PETdefine scan may help doctors in detecting “plaques” in the brain. These are an important factor in detecting Alzheimer’s disease.
According to this Finnish study, the brain tissue of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease contains huge clumps of amyloid plaques. But doctors are not able to detect it until the brain is examined after death in an autopsy.
Leinonen, whose study published Monday in the American Medical Association’s journal ‘Archives of Neurology’ said in a telephonic interview, “It’s very promising.”
The study took into account ten people. All these people underwent a brain biopsy because of a suspected abnormal increase of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. When researchers examined their brain tissue, they found that six of the people had Alzheimer’s disease-related plaques in the brain while four had no such brain changes.
After this the patients underwent a PETdefine scan. The PET scans helped in accurately determining plaques in nine of the ten people. This process was aided by injecting a chemical “marker”.
The researchers said that none of the ten people in the study suffered from severe dementia at the time of the study. Leinonen said, “It’s not 100 percent, but the correlation was very good.”
As of now PET scans are used by doctors to detect cancerdefine, cardiacdefine problems such as damage following a heart attack, brain abnormalities etc.
Alzheimer’s effects around 26 million people worldwide and this number is expected to reach 106 million by 2050. Last month, Canadian researchers used magnetic resonance, imaging and MRIdefine scans to locate Alzheimer’s-like plaques in rabbits.
Cancerdefine is one of the most potent diseases and claims millions of lives around the globe every year. Certain kinds of cancer typically affect women only. Here’s themedguru’s low-down on these lady-killers…
A cancerdefine is a state of abnormal growth and replication of cells in the body at a certain point. The cell division is a highly regulated process with the new cells getting formed only when the old cells die. However, this process can go off track at times with the continuous growth of new cells at a rate higher than the cell death rate. Thus, the extra cell mass is formed in a tissue or an organ which is called a tumor.
Heart attack is one of the major causes of women’s death after breast cancerdefine and poses a great threat to women. At least one in three women dies of heart disease or stroke. The fact is that women are as much vulnerable to a heart attack as men.
While heart disease becomes significantly prevalent among women after they reach menopause, it can and does affect younger women too. According to the American Heart Association, heart disease kills about 16,000 young women and accounts for 40,000 hospitalizations in young women in U.S. every year. So, women of all ages need to become aware of it and take steps to prevent heart disease.
Diabetes has a unique impact on the lives of adolescents and requires constant monitoring of blood sugar levels, medication and effects of food and activity. With careful management by diabetologists, nutritionists, and psychologists, and with support from parents, these young people can lead full and healthy lives.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF)’s World Diabetes Day campaign focuses this year on children and adolescents with diabetes. According to IDF, children and adolescents with diabetes face a lifetime of living with a disease that poses particular challenges for them. These struggles include higher insulindefine insensitivity linked to puberty, rapid behavioural changes, increased risk of depressiondefine, anxiety, and low self-esteem and transition to adult services.
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