2 ms·

Biomarkers are extremely important in any disease. They make diagnosis very clear cut but that isn't the main reason they are necessary. What a biomarker reall

Biomarkers are extremely important in any disease. They make diagnosis very clear cut but that isn't the main reason they are necessary. What a biomarker really does is focus research for treatments, you know precisely what it is you have to change and to what level and how to measure it. This makes it a easy to target drug development and to measure whether it works. Without a biomarker you never know if the drug being developed will help or not and most drug companies stay away from diseases without one.

FollowingTheDao 3y ago
The problem the OP pointed out is a valid one. Alpha-synuclein is a biomarker for many neurological diseases https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24262191/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24262191/ So you might say someone has a marker for Parkinson's and they might get another neurological disorder. They tried these treatments in Alzheimer's and it failed. Why? because it is just another symptom and not the fundamental cause of the disease. It is a good biomarker for poor health, but it is not a good biomarker for any specific disorder.