Blood test predicts chance of dementia
Friday, March 6, 2009 - 11:09
in Health & Medicine
VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Belgium) researchers connected to the Born-Bunge Institute and the University of Antwerp discovered the amount of growth factor progranulin in blood is a predictor of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Progranulin plays a major role in the survival of brain cells. People producing less progranulin have higher risk of contracting FTD. The researchers developed a test, measuring the amount of progranulin in the blood thus predicting a person's risk. This offers possibilities for early detection.