Promising news on the Alzheimer's front: Scientists have identified five more genes associated with the disease, a development that should improve their understanding of how and why it develops. That, in turn, could lead to better treatment and earlier detection, especially among those who show no symptoms, reports USA Today. It's still a long way from a cure, but it's a "big, solid step," a UCLA expert who wasn't involved with the two new studies in Nature Genetics tells the New York Times.
The breakthrough doubles the number of genes known to be associated with Alzheimer's from five to 10. "We will see more and more of these kinds of genes," a scientist with the Alzheimer's Association tells WebMD. "And the more we have, the more we will be able to define a person's risk of Alzheimer's disease and the more possibilities we will have for therapeutic interventions." (Click for more Alzheimer's news.)