More than 7 million people develop dementia every year. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for the majority of dementia cases, at around 65 percent.
It is a brain disorder that leaves people confused, forgetful and disoriented. In the later course of the disease, the result is often a loss of the ability to speak, aggressive or depressive behavior and the need for care.
So far, there is no way to cure Alzheimer’s. Although regular exercise, social contacts, healthy nutrition and mental fitness can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, despite intensive research, the loss of nerve cells after illness cannot be stopped permanently.
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Nevertheless, early detection of Alzheimer’s disease is important. With modern therapies, the course of the disease can be delayed and the symptoms alleviated. Anyone who notices increasing forgetfulness as they age can go through various tests and questionnaires at the doctor’s in order to have Alzheimer’s diagnosed.
So far, the invasive and often painful removal and examination of cerebrospinal fluid from the lower spinal canal (liquor diagnostics) has usually been used. In some cases, brain images are also created using CT and MRI. However, both procedures are quite complex and cannot be carried out on an outpatient basis. However, a newly developed blood test to detect Alzheimer’s could soon make detecting the disease much easier.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. (Image source: Statista)
Earlier detection of Alzheimer’s thanks to blood tests
The blood test was developed by an international research team led by Fernando Gonzalez-Ortiz. In a paper published in the journal Brain appeared, the methodology is explained.
For an Alzheimer’s diagnosis according to current guidelines, there are three clear characteristics that must be identified: abnormal accumulations of amyloid and tau proteins and a progressive loss of neurons in certain brain regions.
With the newly developed blood test, it can now be determined for the first time whether the tau proteins are so-called endogenous tau, which clearly indicates Alzheimer’s disease. This made it possible to reliably differentiate between Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases in the 600 subjects.
The blood test has a number of advantages over the methods used up to now, as a co-author of the study, Professor Thomas Karikari, told the Guardian explained:
A blood test is cheaper, safer and easier to perform and can improve clinical certainty in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease and selecting participants for clinical trials and disease surveillance.
The team now plans to extend the testing to a larger group of people, taking into account both ethnic backgrounds and different stages of memory loss.
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Would you use such a blood test to be informed early on about Alzheimer’s disease in old age? And do you think that such a blood test could soon become established? Tell us in the comments!
