Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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![This Blood Test May Detect Alzheimer’s Decades Before Symptoms | Research Improves Lives
Alzheimers is usually diagnosed after memory problems start. By then, the damage in the brain has been building for a decade or more.
Dr. Valerie Daggett is a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington. Her lab studies proteins — how they fold, and what happens when they dont. Along the way they found a protein structure nobody had discovered before. They called it “alpha sheet.”
Her labs research suggests the formation of alpha sheet may be among the earliest molecular events in Alzheimers disease — a trigger for the disease. Based on that work, her team developed a blood test designed to detect these proteins early. Theyre also working on compounds intended to neutralize them.
[CHAPTERS]
0:00 Intro
0:14 What most people think Alzheimers is
0:31 Whats actually happening first
0:49 Alpha sheet, explained
1:26 Looking for the trigger in blood
2:23 Whats driving the pace
2:51 Beyond Alzheimers
3:09 Why this work happens here
Watch the rest of the series:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpA1iYYE-lh2tY4ddDzIMGEAe3rKFipI3&si=4b_iZWCPZsibhR9N
Learn more about Dr. Daggetts work: https://bioe.uw.edu/portfolio-items/daggett/
Learn more about the people and discoveries behind the science: https://uwmedicine.org/about/research-improves-lives
#Alzheimers #Neuroscience #ResearchImprovesLives This Blood Test May Detect Alzheimer’s Decades Before Symptoms | Research Improves Lives](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/us8SreDtClI/mqdefault.jpg)
