THE McCusker Alzheimer’s Research Foundation recently received a large boost in state government funding which will allow researchers to complete a study into the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

In collaboration with research partners at CSIRO in Melbourne, Professor Ralph Martins and his research team in Perth have been working on developing an early diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease using brain imaging technology.

Professor Ralph Martins, Chair in Aging and Alzheimers, Edith Cowan University

The recent injection of state government funds will allow the study to be completed but has also helped secure a high performance mass spectrometer to develop a diagnostic blood test for disease.

“Right up to now, diagnosis could only be done when the person had passed away,” says Professor Martins who is the Edith Cowan University Foundation Chair in Aging and Alzheimer’s.

“Brain imaging allows us to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease today during life.

“Brain imaging has enabled us to see these changes in the brain 10-15 years before you see any symptoms and that’s when you want to look at intervention and treatment.”

“This funding from the state government will allow us to look at everyone in the study and that makes this the largest most powerful study in the world for brain imaging.”

According to Professor Martin, who was named WA Australian of the Year for 2010, a blood biomarker test will be the gold standard as a diagnostic tool for the disease.

“The challenge that we have long term is to roll it (brain scanning) out to the wider community but it (brain scans) is going to be too expensive to do that but what it does do is helps us get a much cleaner population to work with in terms of whether controls are really healthy controls.”

“This will fast track our development to getting this blood test which will be like a cholesterol test for heart disease.

“That’s where we need a huge amount of resources.”

Professor Martins says that Alzheimer’s disease funding is essential as the disease currently costs the Australian economy $6.6 billion per annum and is expected to quadruple over the next 40 years.

“It’s a small investment that will have a major impact in terms of preventing the disease.”

“I am personally grateful to the state government for doing this.

“This is the first time this initiative has been done.

“It will help us leverage other funding now and we hope that the federal government and the business community will become partners with this initiative.”

The McCusker Alzheimer’s Research Foundation is a charitable organisation that has been set up to fund research conducted by Professor Ralph Martins and his team looking at Alzheimer’s disease.

Comments (2)

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written by Christine Titheradge, January 02, 2011

This is fantastic, I would be very interested to follow your outcomes of this research. My father (70) is in the last states of Alzehmier's & we think a combination of Lewy Body Disease. My Grandfather also suffered Alzehmier's & passed at (80), some of my fathers brothers also shown signs of early Alzehmier's, so you can see our family is very interested in diagnosis, preventition & a cure one day. My sister Trudy & I do a lot of research ourselves via Internet, Doctors, Natropaths, patients & their family & where ever else we can get information. Keep up the great work all involved. Chris Titheradge

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written by Michelle Byrne, May 14, 2011

If only we have more people like you Professor Martins. My great grandmother, grandmother and now mother who is in the final stages at age 67 of Alzheimer's have fallen victim to the disease. My mother began to show symptoms at age 55. I am 49 years and have three sisters 51, 47 and 41, we know two of us will get the disease. We haven't got long before some of use begin to show symptoms. I wish you all the best.