Researchers in the UK stated today that they are testing a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease. They hope it will change how the condition is diagnosed.
According to AFP, researchers at University College London (UCL) will look into whether the test may raise the accuracy of diagnosis from 70% to more than 90%.
Doctors claim that getting an early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, which is the most prevalent cause of dementia, is very important since the sooner treatment starts, the better it works.
The trial will look at how well the test works in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) by getting about 1,100 people from about 20 memory clinics to take part.
The brain builds up two important proteins termed amyloid and tau, which are connected to Alzheimer’s disease.
The new blood test looks for the protein p-tau217, which is thought to be a good sign that both bad proteins are in the brain.
Scientists want to see if doing the test when memory problems are initially looked at can help with diagnosis and therapy, even if it has already been shown to work for discovering p-tau217.
Experts think that blood tests like plasma p-tau217 can find amyloid and tau just as well as more intrusive procedures like PET scans and lumbar punctures.
The trial is part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge, a research effort worth millions of pounds that UK Alzheimer’s organizations are supporting in the hopes of making progress in using blood tests to find Alzheimer’s.
Jonathan Schott, a professor of neurology at UCL’s Dementia Research Center and one of the trial’s leaders, said he thought it would “take us a step forward in revolutionizing the way we diagnose dementia.”
He noted that early diagnosis would become even more crucial in the coming years, “as a new generation of treatments emerges that can slow down the decline of memory and thinking.”
He went on to say, “A timely diagnosis will be key to making sure these advances get to the people who need them the most.”
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