Scans predict Alzheimer's risk

At present, physicians live with the frustration of not being able to provide much help to people diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Things should change dramatically if the disease, like cancer, can be identified in its earliest stages and treatments begun as soon as possible. Researchers recently have identified telltale brain shrinkage that presages Alzheimer's. Using brain scanning techniques, they distinguished between people considered normal and those with memory problems that progressed to Alzheimer's with 93 percent accuracy. The same brain scans that find the disease could also be used to determine the efficacy of treatments to control it. For example, does a particular drug lessen, or even prevent, brain shrinkage?