TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 15, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Southwestern Medical Solutions, Inc. (Pink Sheets:SWMD) is pleased to announce that it intends to incorporate an important urine test for the early, non-invasive detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) into its proprietary Labguard Accucheck(tm). AD is an incurable, fatal neurological disease that is quite common among the elderly in the U.S. and which causes cognitive impairment, including memory loss. Some 4 million Americans suffer from AD, not to mention the suffering experience by care-giving spouses, family and others.
CONVENTIONAL DIAGNOSIS DIFFICULT -- Until development of the urine test, detection and diagnosis of "probable" AD was both invasive and expensive, often involving a spinal tap to collect cerebrospinal fluid for analysis of beta amyloid precursor and Tau proteins (Tau/AB42 Test). In any case, a definitive diagnosis is virtually impossible.
URINALYSIS AN IMPORTANT BREAKTHROUGH -- The urine test analyzes a first-morning urine sample for levels of a brain protein called neural thread protein (NTP). By helping to identify Alzheimer's disease early, it is hoped that this ground-breaking test will allow patients to receive available therapies when they can be most effective and, hopefully, before irreversible damage occurs. The Company's intended Alzheimer's Test will probably be most useful as a confirmatory test, used in conjunction with other relevant medical data and physicians' clinical assessment of patients' symptoms. Researchers also are hopeful that using a simple urine test may help to identify those who are at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.
LABGUARD ACCUCHECK(tm) -- The prevalence of on-site testing of employees, job applicants, military personnel, public service workers, prison inmates and parolees, students and athletes, to detect the use of illicit substances, has exploded across North America during the past decade. Southwestern Medical's technology directly addresses inefficiencies and unwarranted risks associated with procedures and devices now in use, and promises to catapult the Company into the role of a key supplier in this large market.
SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL HAS THE SOLUTION -- The Company's proprietary Labguard Accucheck(tm) on-site collection & diagnostic testing technology represents a revolutionary approach that ensures greater safety and convenience for diagnostic testing administrators at an attractive, market-competitive price. Currently in the final prototype stage, Labguard Accucheck(tm) has already attracted expressions of strong interest from several major medical-device distribution companies, both in the U.S. and abroad.
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