Background Research:
Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) all are neurodegenerative diseases. FTD is a group of disorders caused by progressive cell degeneration in the brain’s frontal lobes, which are located behind the forehead, or its temporal lobes, which sit behind the ears. ALS is a specific disorder that involves death of neurons controlling voluntary muscles. PSP is an uncommon brain disorder that affects movement, control of walking and balance.
1. How have these diseases been traditionally diagnosed?
ALS is usually diagnosed based on detailed history of symptoms and signs observed by a physician during physical examination along with a series of tests to rule out other diseases. FTD has traditionally been difficult to diagnose as its symptoms overlap with several other conditions – it was done primarily by clinical assessment including neurological examination, cognitive testing, imaging studies etc.PSP was also diagnosed similar way with medical history analysis , physical examination along with other motor skill tests.
2. What makes blood markers so important in early detection?
Blood carries numerous biomarkers or biological markers which indicate the normal biological processes, pathogenic processes or responses to therapy interventions . In case of neurodegenerative diseases like FTD , ALS etc., these blood markers can be very crucial for early detection as research has shown such disease progression includes synthesis of certain proteins , hence level indicating possible onset .
3.What does it mean when article mentions „routine medical use“?
Routine medical use signifies any procedure or method being used as common practice in hospitals and clinics for e.g Blood Pressure measurement during checkup visit.Blood biomarkers being used widely would mean drawing a small volume blood sample and run necessary test quickly just like cholesterol checks nowadays.Diagnosis would then no longer take long times rather tranlsate into faster prognosis.
4.How soon could this become ready for routine medical use?
Though exact timeline cannot be given, however considering the rapid advances in medical science field , it would be very plausible this technique being pioneered by DZNE could make its way into the mainstream within next couple of years.
5.How could this facilitate the development of new therapies?
Identifying biomarkers indicative of particular neurodegenerative diseases like ALS or FTD can not only lead towards early diagnosis but also offer insights about how exactly these disease progresses at biochemical level.This understanding would enable researchers to come up with specifically targeted drugs/interventions ( a concept called precision medicine) which can potentially halt the disease progression.
Originamitteilung:
In a study with 991 adults, scientists at DZNE show that the most common forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) as well as the neurological diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) can be recognised by blood testing. Their procedure is not yet ready for routine medical use, but in the long term it could facilitate disease diagnosis and advance the development of new therapies already now.