Comment: A promising breakthrough

Scientific advancements relating to health and vision often make it into the national press, but rarely is any direct connection made with high street optometry. This, however, is not the case with the breaking news last week that Alzheimer's disease may in the future be detected through a simple eye test, where dying brain cells are indicated by fluorescent markers.

The research team from University College London has already undertaken tests on mice and human trials to detect the disease are planned for later this year.

While this is potentially good news for the growing numbers of people expected to be living with Alzheimer's in the next decade, it is also a welcome role for optometry, with the UCL researchers hoping that high street tests in practice could be a reality in five years' time.