The dye, attaches to clumps of protein in the brain of people with Alzheimer's disease and could enable doctors to begin treatment with drugs sooner. Pittsburgh Compound B, or PiB, is named after the researchers who developed the drug.
At present, the only reliable way to assess the aggregation of these compounds in the brain is by analyzing brain tissue samples obtained during life or autopsy after death. However, the new method will help doctors detect the illness in patients while they are still alive.
Researchers studied 10 patients without severe dementia who had undergone a biopsy and had an abnormal increase of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. The results of the treatment showed that six patients had the deposits -- the same six whose brain scans with the PiB dye showed the protein clumps. The other four people in the study didn't have the amyloid deposits.
About 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, a figure expected to rise to 7.7 million by 2030, according to the advocacy group Alzheimer's Association.
The study was published Monday online in the Archives of Neurology.
