In 1993, a skin test for Alzheimer's disease was announced from research led by Dr Daniel L. Alkon at the National Institutes of Health. This disease gradually destroys memory, the ability to function, and is eventually fatal. The benefit of the skin test, if validated by further research, would be to differentiate the incurable Alzheimer's disease from other more treatable forms of mental impairment. If effective, the test would save hundreds of millions of dollars in diagnostic evaluations, though several years of work remained before any clinical test would be widely available. It was previously known that potassium channels closed in brain cells affected by Alzheimer disease. The new test was designed to detect if a similar collapse of potassium channels could be detected in skin tissues.«[Image right: Cross-section of Alzheimer's diseased brain (left) and normal brain.] Memory's Voice: Deciphering the Mind-Brain Code, by Daniel L. Alkon. - book suggestion.