Last year, the Korean government had pledged to spend over a billion U.S. dollars on medical technology over the next ten years to tackle dementia.<br />Already, as a result, Korean researchers say they've developed a new diagnostic method using DNA that can predict the chances of developing Alzheimer's disease.<br />Park Se-young has more. <br /> Alzheimer's disease is called a family disease because it is often just as devastating to the caregivers and family members of the patient.<br />Since there is still no effective treatment or medicine for Alzheimer's disease, the best options are prevention and early diagnosis.<br />Now, Korean researchers have developed a method to accurately predict the chances of developing the disease using DNA analysis.<br /><br /> "By further analyzing type-T and type-G genetic variations that we found, we can predict Alzheimer's much more accurately."<br /><br /> Based on the analysis of eight-thousand Koreans, two-thousand Japanese people and 20-thousand Westerners, the National Research Center for Dementia has worked out why Asians face a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease.<br /><br /> "We found that a greater proportion of Asians have type-T variation than Westerners, thereby facing a higher risk of Alzheimer's."<br /><br />The diagnostic method is capable of quickly analyzing a DNA sample, …collected by scraping a cotton swab inside the patient's mouth.<br />It has 95 percent accuracy and is expected to cost about 90 US dollars.<br /> The researchers have obtained a national patent for the diagnostic method, …and trials could begin as early as the first half of this year.<br />Park Se-young, Arirang News. <br />
