Signals of Alzheimer's in the blood could one day help catch it earlier

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-07-28 21:00

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A test looking at certain molecules in the blood, known as biomarkers, could help predict the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to international researchers. The team looked at the presence of certain biomarkers in patients who were being assessed for Alzheimer’s. The accuracy of predicting the presence of Alzheimer's disease based on clinical evaluation alone was 61% in primary care and 73% in specialty care compared with 91% for the blood test in both settings. In another study, a team looked at the presence of biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and found that changes in these blood biomarkers from midlife is a risk factor for late-life dementia. While the blood test is not yet accurate enough to use as a standalone test and more research is needed to fully understand how Alzheimer’s shows up in our blood over time, an accompanying editorial says the studies are informative and welcome, and come at a time when early detection of Alzheimer's disease could give patients better options for treatment in the future.