First described in 1906 by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, there is no cure – but research is continuing at a rapid pace all over the world.

Close to home and optically related, work is being done at Boston University by Lee Goldstein. Since early detection is important in effective treatment, Dr. Goldstein is working on a device that may let Doctors screen for Alzheimer's long before any symptoms appear.

As a geriatric psychiatrist and neuroscientist at BU's School of Medicine and College of Engineering, Dr. Goldstein and his team are in a unique position to blend the science of medicine and the art of technology. Four years ago the team realized that the sticky, tangled plaques containing the protein beta-amyloid that build up between nerve cells in the brain are also found to be collecting in the lens of the eye causing an unusual cataract that differs from common age-related cataracts.

While working with Alzheimer's mice, Goldstein noticed the development of dense bilateral cataracts in their eyes. Healthy control mice showed none. When checking humans with Alzheimer's he noted the same cataract formations. This discovery was the first of Alzheimer's pathology outside the brain and led Goldstein to develop a laser-based diagnostic device that searches for amyloidal protein buildup in the eye.

In Dr. Goldstein's words, "Alzheimer's is an exceedingly slow disease that starts many years to a decade or more before the beginning of a cognitive decline," he stated. "If we can combine emerging new treatments with early detection, we can beat this disease and do so soon. Our most recent work suggests that we may be able to detect the disease at the molecular level from the earliest stages, hopefully well before the first clinical symptoms."

A few years ago Dr. Goldstein formed a biotech company in Acton, MA called Neuroptix that is developing the technology to make such screenings possible.

Dr. Goldstein hopes that in three years or so in addition to checking you for an update on your progressive lenses or looking for glaucoma and regular cataracts, your Doctor may ask if you'd like an Alzheimer's screening on his new Neuroptix laser scanning device.

Wouldn't that be wonderful?