English: The Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle (AIBL) Flagship Study of Ageing, has found a way to bring forward the detection of Alzheimer's disease by up to 18 months using a brain imaging technique. Alzheimer's disease is characterised by very highlevels of a molecule called beta-amyloid in the brain. PiB PET can show the beta-amyloid in the brain. AIBL researchers have shown that this scan can be used as a diagnostic tool to potentially distinguish patients with early Alzheimer's disease from others without the disease, even before clear signs of memory loss are present. Dementia, most of which is caused by Alzheimer's disease, affects over 200 000 Australians, with the number expected to rise to over 700 000 by 2050. Alzheimer's was estimated to have cost .6 billion in 2002. Delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease by just five years has been calculated to reduce new cases by 50 per cent, with cumulative Australian health cost sa