Tue 30 Mar 2010
Detecting Alzheimer’s from an Eye Exam
Posted by mdnutrition under Alzheimer's, beta amyloid, Eye exam
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It seems that Alzheimer’s disease affects the retina of the eye as well as the brain. Two researchers from University College London, Francesca Cordiera and Stephen Moss are developing a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope to detect the protein beta amyloid in the retina, the same protein that collects in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. It is not ready at this point, but how nice it will be to go to your ophthalmologist to confirm the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, especially in the early stages when do one is quite sure what is happening. I believe we have only scratched the surface of diseases and conditions that we will be able to diagnose via an eye exam.