Swedish research shows that a new blood test can provide a more reliable diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
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A new blood test can provide a more reliable diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, shows a new Swedish study. When the researchers tested for two different substances in the blood, the blood test gave the correct diagnosis in around 80 percent of the cases.
New blood tests make it possible to detect changes in the brain long before symptoms become apparent, as Senioren previously reported.
This applies, among other things, to a protein called p-tau217, which can be measured in the blood.
The disease develops slowly
Table of Contents
- The disease develops slowly
- The memory problems can be caused by other things
- Have examined a new substance in the blood
- Blood tests can give incorrect answers
- New protein shows later stage of the disease
- The blood test provides a more reliable Alzheimer’s diagnosis
- Can be used more in healthcare in the future
Alzheimer’s disease develops slowly, often over many years. There can be changes in the brain up to 20 years before memory problems and other symptoms appear.
With early detection, both drug treatment and other measures can be implemented more quickly.
The memory problems can be caused by other things
But very early detection is not unproblematic. The blood test may show changes, but they do not have to be the cause of the symptoms the person has. Memory problems and other problems can have other causes.
– The new blood tests that have begun to be used are good at detecting Alzheimer’s changes early – sometimes almost too early because the disease has not broken out and the symptoms can thus be due to another disease, says researcher Niklas Mattsson-Carlgren at Lund University, in a comment.
Have examined a new substance in the blood
The researchers estimate that more than 30 percent of the elderly population has Alzheimer’s changes to some degree.
– We have therefore investigated a marker which is instead linked to a later stage of the disease.
Blood tests can give incorrect answers
In the new study, published in the scientific journal The Lancet Neurology, 572 people who sought care for cognitive problems participated.
A blood test can sometimes show signs of illness in people who are not yet ill. This is called a false positive response.
The researchers measured the levels of the protein p-tau217 in the blood of the subjects.
– This was the case with 43 percent of those who had high p-tau217 – they had the changes, but did not meet all the criteria for disease, says Niklas Mattsson-Carlgren.
New protein shows later stage of the disease
The researchers also looked at another protein in the blood, called eMTBR-tau243.
Then the picture became clearer. When both blood samples were used together, the diagnosis became more certain.
The blood test provides a more reliable Alzheimer’s diagnosis
They were able to find people with Alzheimer’s disease with about 80 percent accuracy. At the same time, the risk of incorrect answers was more than halved.
People who had both substances in their blood got worse memory and thinking more quickly. They also had more of the harmful tau protein that accumulates in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease.
– By combining blood markers, we can better see which people have Alzheimer’s disease and which have the disease in such an advanced stage that it leads to symptoms.
Can be used more in healthcare in the future
The results have also been confirmed in an American patient group.
Today, the blood test requires advanced technology. Now the researchers want to investigate whether the blood test can be simplified, so that in the future it can be taken at the health centre.
