Diagnosing Neurodegeneration:

Thanks to science, we can expect to lead a longer life than previous generations. However, the increase in life expectancy of the world’s population also poses medical challenges. 

Alzheimer's disease has become a growing concern for the world's aging population, being the most common cause of dementia. About 30 million people worldwide are currently affected by dementia. Symptoms include short term memory loss, problems with language, mood swings, disorientation and eventually lead to death. Early diagnosis is essential for implementation of appropriate treatment and support mechanisms, enabling patients to live as independently as possible. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by cognitive impairment, but it is only during post-mortem examination of the brain that the hallmark protein deposits – amyloid plaques and tau fibrils – and brain shrinkage can be definitively identified. However, the disease will have begun to take hold many years earlier, long before cognitive deficiencies were visible, and this is one of the main limitations in developing therapeutics for Alzheimer’s. Biomarker analysis has the potential to change this situation. IBL International, the latest addition to the Tecan Group, offers a range of microplate-based immunoassays to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease.