Source: The National
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
My Hope for Lebanon
A company of Lebanese soldiers assigned to maintain order in this anxious wartime capital is gathered at its headquarters 100 yards from the Mediterranean. I make the blunder of asking their commander how many of his men are Shiites, Sunnis, Christians and Druze.
Monday, November 4, 2024
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
Sports
FC Barcelona Fears First Team Star Will Be Banned From Playing, Reports SPORT
FC Barcelona is concerned that one of its main first-team stars will be banned from playing at the turn of 2025 because of issues related to his registration and Financial Fair Play (FFP) limits according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
Friday, November 1, 2024
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Wednesday 24 January 2024 12:53:15
New Alzheimer's Test Can Detect Disease Years Before Symptoms Develop
A new blood test has been developed to detect Alzheimer's disease, with the method appearing to be as accurate and less painful than the “gold standard” tests.
The blood test measures levels of a protein called p-tau217, which signals changes in the brain associated with the development of the disease that begin up to 15 years before symptoms start.
Experts say the findings have the potential to “revolutionise” diagnosis for people with suspected Alzheimer's.
The study, which included about 800 people across three countries, used the presence of the protein to predict the patients who were likely, intermediate and unlikely to have Alzheimer's with as much accuracy as established methods including lumbar puncture.
The study was led by Dr Nicholas Ashton of the University of Gothenburg and was published in the Jama Neurology journal.
Experts say 2 per cent of people receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer's using a lumbar puncture or PET scan. However, there are not enough PET scanners to screen for the disease at the rate required, which means many people wait years for a diagnosis.
Researchers will now study whether the result stands in populations in the real world, including clinics where people visit with concerns about their memory.
If it proves successful, experts say the test may be widely available in three to five years.
Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "This study is a hugely welcome step in the right direction as it shows that blood tests can be just as accurate as more invasive and expensive tests at predicting if someone has features of Alzheimer's disease in their brain.
"Furthermore, it suggests results from these tests could be clear enough to not require further follow-up investigations for some people living with Alzheimer's disease, which could speed up the diagnosis pathway significantly in future.
"However, we still need to see more research across different communities to understand how effective these blood tests are across everyone who lives with Alzheimer's disease."
Dr Sheona Scales, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said the results suggest the new test was superior to other tests under development.
“This adds to a growing body of evidence that this particular test has huge potential to revolutionise diagnosis for people with suspected Alzheimer's,” she said.
But Dr Scales added that a clearer picture is needed of how these types of blood tests perform day-to-day in real-world healthcare systems.
David Curtis, honorary professor at the Genetics Institute at University College London, said: “Everybody over 50 could be routinely screened every few years, in much the same way as they are now screened for high cholesterol.
“It is possible that currently available treatments for Alzheimer's disease would work better in those diagnosed early in this way.
“However, I think the real hope is that better treatments can also be developed.
“The combination of a simple screening test with an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease would have a dramatic impact for individuals and for society.”