Blood test could detect Alzheimer’s a decade earlier, new research

By MiNDFOOD

MR image of human brain
MR image of human brain

A new blood test could potentially detect Alzheimer’s in patients over 10 years before symptoms appear.

Scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (HIH) and the University Hospital Tuebingen have shown that a protein found in the blood can be used to precisely monitor disease progression long before first clinical signs appear. 

In a study of 247 people with a genetic mutation known to trigger young-onset Alzheimer’s, tests revealed higher than normal levels of a specific protein that rose over time.

By contrast, the levels of the same protein were low and remained largely steady in 162 unaffected relatives who had inherited a healthy form of the gene.

While there is no drug to stop the progression of Alzheimer’s, or cure it, the researchers said the study findings could be used by doctors to help anticipate when patients might start to show symptoms of the disease.

They also said it showed that measuring changes in levels of this protein in the blood was a useful way to test whether new Alzheimer’s drugs show promise – something researchers have already begun to embrace.

“The fact that there is still no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s is partly because current therapies start much too late,” says Mathias Jucker, a senior researcher at the DZNE’s Tuebingen site and at the HIH. He headed the current study. In order to develop better treatments, scientists therefore need reliable methods to monitor and predict the course of the disease before symptoms such as memory changes occur.

While the study is promising, it’s not a fool-proof test. The study looked at people who were genetically predisposed to the disease, which only affects 1% of the world’s population, which is what allowed it to determine when the portion changes started to happen, simply because they had an idea on when the disease was likely to start presenting symptoms in those patients.

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