A new find could change the way people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s by making it possible to do a simple blood test.
Alzheimer’s can now be diagnosed in seconds with a blood test, instead of the longer and more difficult tests and processes that were used before. Brain scans or spinal punctures might not be needed if these blood tests are done instead. Researchers in the UK were given a huge project to look into the blood test that would let people get a diagnosis in seconds.
This showed researchers that a current blood test could help them find Alzheimer’s faster and better. The blood test is meant to help doctors figure out what’s wrong and to find out if you have “amyloid in the brain.”
The lead author of this study, Dr. Nicholas Ashton, said, “If you want to get the new drugs, you have to show that you have amyloid in your brain.” “It’s not possible to do brain scans and spinal taps on everyone in the world who needs them.” This is where the blood test could be very useful.
He says this could even help them figure out what kind of dementia is going on, since it might not be Alzheimer’s. This would point them in the right way.
The group looked into what this blood test could do and how it could help people who already have a diagnosis. Seventy-six people from the US, Spain, and Canada took part in the study. They came to some pretty good conclusions: the blood test could really help to identify, even when other tests were going on at the same time.
Asheton said, “a blood test could definitively diagnose 80% of people without any other investigation.”
He went on to say, “It shows that blood tests can be just as good at telling if someone has Alzheimer’s disease-like symptoms in their brain as more invasive and expensive tests.” It is a huge finding that can help doctors figure out what’s wrong with people without having to go back and forth a lot or do expensive, invasive tests on them unless it’s really needed.
