Simple Blood Test Effective in Detecting Alzheimer’s, Study Reveals

Alzheimer’s disease, known for its significant impact on cognitive abilities and brain health, presents a challenge not only for patients but also for their caregivers. Traditionally, detecting Alzheimer’s involves costly brain scans or uncomfortable lumbar punctures. However, a recent study suggests that a simple blood test, already available in the market, could be just as effective in diagnosing the disease.

This study, published in the journal JAMA Neurology on January 22, highlights the necessity of such a test, particularly in countries where access to Alzheimer’s medication requires proof of amyloid accumulation in the brain, a key indicator of the disease.

Dr. Nicholas Ashton from Gothenburg University, the lead author of the study, emphasized the impracticality of conducting spinal taps and brain scans on a large scale globally. He sees the blood test as a significant development with immense potential.

The study identifies the protein p-tau217 as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s, meaning its presence in the blood can influence a doctor’s diagnosis. The research focused on a commercially available blood test named ALZpath. The team analyzed results from 786 individuals across the U.S., Canada, and Spain, all of whom had undergone either a lumbar puncture or an amyloid PET scan to detect tau proteins in the brain. In all three trials conducted, the ALZpath blood test proved to be as effective as traditional methods in detecting signs of Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Ashton noted that the blood test alone could definitively diagnose 80% of individuals without requiring any additional investigations. His insights were shared in The Guardian.