It can take months or years for doctors to determine whether people with early signs of memory loss have Alzheimer’s disease.
But experts say a new generation of blood tests may replace the expensive brain scans and spinal taps now used to diagnose the mind-robbing disease. Early diagnosis could allow patients earlier access to drugs approved by theFood and Drug Administration to treat Alzheimer’s. The new blood tests may also help drug researchers more efficiently conduct clinical trials to evaluate experimental drugs aimed at slowing the incurable disease that afflicts 6.9 million Americans.
Researchers at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference will report results from a series of studies evaluating these new blood tests. While blood tests are not yet widely deployed at memory clinics, new research suggests some of them have proven accurate and they could soon be introduced more broadly into medical settings.
“We know that blood tests have the potential to increase (the) accuracy of early diagnosis and maximize the opportunity for patients to access potential Alzheimer’s treatments,” said Dr. Rebecca Edelmayer, senior director of scientific engagement for the Alzheimer’s Association. “The field is really moving forward with the use of these types of tests.”
Diagnosing the memory-robbing disease isn’t simple. A doctor must examine a patient and conduct memory and thinking tests. Doctors then may refer patients to specialty clinics to undergo PET scans or spinal taps to detect whether the person has a telltale buildup of amyloid-beta protein, which forms plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
Blood test outperforms doctors when diagnosing Alzheimer’s
Research suggests that the new blood tests can accurately determine if someone has Alzheimer’s disease. A study of more than 1,200 patients with signs of the disease found the Precivity AD2 blood test, which measures ratios of the proteins tau and amyloid-beta, detected the disease more often than doctors did.
Among two large groups of patients who visited specialized memory clinics or primary-care clinics, the Precivity test accurately detected 90% of cases, even among patients with complicated medical histories including kidney disease, according to a study published Sunday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. By comparison, specialists at the memory clinics identified 73% of cases and primary-care doctors accurately diagnosed 63% of cases.
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/07/28/alzheimers-blood-testing-speed-treatment/74419533007/?tbref=hp