Chemical reliably spots Alzheimer's

A specially designed chemical gives a 98% accuracy in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, UCLA researchers reported Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Previously, the only way to determine whether a person suffered from the devastating brain ailment has been to remove some brain tissue or with an autopsy.

The chemical, known as FDDNP, attaches to the abnormal clumps of proteins called amyloid plaques and tau tangles that develop in Alzheimer's sufferers so that they can be seen by positron emission tomography imaging.