Maya Brinster 

December 16, 2020 

AP Bio EF Even 

Current Event 9 

“New Tests Identify Early Changes in Alzheimer's Disease before Symptoms Appear.” 

ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 1 Dec. 2020,

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201201203937.htm.

The article “New tests identify early changes in Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear” describes a revolutionary discovery conducted by researchers at the University of Gothenburg that could lead to more effective treatments for Alzheimer's. Previously, scientists knew that the Tau protein, a type of protein that is predominantly found in brain cells, can form clumps of aggregates in the brain during Alzheimer’s and contribute to memory loss over time. However, this abnormality was able to be detected only once the patient experienced clear symptoms of memory loss. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg discovered specific forms of this protein that undergo certain changes, such as the increase in blood or cerebrospinal fluid, during the early stages of Alzheimer’s. They were able to develop highly sensitive techniques to test regular blood samples and measure these changes, and detect Alzheimer’s much earlier than what was previously possible. 

The detection of this abnormality could enable the disease to be detected and therefore treated, much sooner. Dr. Thomas Karikari explains the significance of this study, stating that “The remarkable findings reported in these publications show that the new highly sensitive tools capture the earliest Alzheimer disease changes in the brain in clinically normal people. These tools, therefore, have the potential to advance population screening and clinical trials." Since cognitive issues don’t develop in the early stages of Alzheimer's, a sooner detection could enable a more helpful cure that could halt the disease before any serious change is done to the brain. 

I found this article very interesting and enjoyed reading it. I like how the author explained everything they were writing about with great detail, as it made everything very easy to comprehend. It would have been nice if the author focused a bit more on the impact that this discovery has on future treatments, as this is very important. Overall, however, I really enjoyed this article and am now more optimistic about the future of Alzheimer's disease.