Has a 15-year-old found a way to test for Alzheimer's?

Neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia are hard to diagnose. Photo / Thinkstock

A 15-year-old British boy has developed a potential test for Alzheimer's disease that could allow the condition to be diagnosed 10 years before the first symptoms appear.

Currently, Alzheimer's can only be detected through cognitive tests or by looking at the brain after death.

But Krtin Nithiyanandam, of Epsom, Surrey, has developed a "Trojan horse" antibody which can penetrate the brain and attach itself to the toxic proteins present in the disease's early stages.

The antibodies, which would be injected into the blood, are also -attached to fluorescent particles which can then be picked up on a brain scan.

Krtin submitted his test to the

Google Science Fair Prize and learnt that he had made it through to the final last week. He will find out next month if he has won a scholarship and mentoring to take his idea further.

"The main benefits of my test are that it could be used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease before symptoms start to show by focusing on pathophysiological changes, some of which can occur a decade before symptoms are prevalent," Krtin told The Daily Telegraph.

"This early diagnosis could help families prepare for the future and -ensure that existing drugs are used to -better effect. Another benefit is that due to the conjugated fluorescent nanoparticles, my diagnostic-probe can be used to image Alzheimer's disease non-invasively."

Neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia are hard to diagnose and treat because of the blood-brain barrier, an extra later of cellular material which surrounds blood vessels in the brain, protecting against any toxins while allowing useful molecules in.

But Krtin's antibodies can pass through that barrier. Latest lab tests even show that they "handcuff" the toxic proteins, stopping them from developing further, which could potentially stop Alzheimer's in its tracks.

Krtin added: "Some of my new, preliminary research has suggested that my diagnostic probe could simultaneously have therapeutic potential as well as diagnostic.".

Krtin, who moved to Britain from India with is family when he was a baby, also represents Surrey in squash, is a member of St John's Ambulance Cadets and is working towards his silver Duke of Edinburgh Award. His father is an IT consultant and mother is a teaching assistant.