Measuring Stick: Spinal tap test tracks Alzheimer’s compound

Scientists point to high concentrations of amyloid-beta in the brain as the chief culprit in Alzheimer’s disease. But they don’t know whether the increased amounts of this peptide arise from its overproduction or from a failure of the body to dispose of an excess.

In the July Nature Medicine, researchers describe a test that enables them for the first time to track amyloid-beta production and clearance in cerebrospinal fluid in people.