A Blood Test That
May Warn of
Alzheimer’s SoonerThe only way to catch
Alzheimer’s early—
allowing treatment to
slow the progression of
symptoms—is through
expensive imaging or
invasive tests. Now
researchers have devel-
oped a blood test that
they hope will spot the
amyloid beta that forms
brain plaque, a hall-
mark of the disease.
Working with archived
blood that had been
collected between July
2000 and December
2002 from participants
in a study of adults ages
50 to 75, they compared
samples from 65 people
who were later diag-
nosed with Alzheimer’s
to more than 800 con-
trols. The new test cor-
rectly identified those
with the disease in al-
most 70 percent of the
cases—and it would
have done so as many
as eight years before
they received their
diagnosis using the
current tests.EARLY DINERS ARE
HEALTHIERA study of more than 4,000 men and women
in Spain found that people who ate their evening
meal before 9 p.m. or at least two hours before
going to bed had a 20 percent lower risk of breast
or prostate cancer than those who ate after 10 p.m.
or went to bed soon after eating. These cancers
may be bolstered by disruptions to the biological
clock, and meal timing impacts sleep cycles.
More research needs to be done to confirm the
link, but it’s worth noting that studies have already
shown that eating dinner earlier can help you
maintain a healthy weight and sleep better.32 dec 2018 )jan 2019 Photograph by The Voorhes
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