The new blood test has improved diagnostic accuracy to 88% when combined with PET scans or lumbar punctures and neurologist evaluations
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NEED TO KNOW
- A new blood test could help determine if patients with cognitive issues have Alzheimer’s
- Researchers found that the test can gauge the levels of plaques in the brain that accumulate and cause neurons to die, leading to potential dementia
- The test’s diagnostic accuracy improved to 88% when combined with evaluations by neurologists and PET scans or lumbar punctures
A new blood test could assist in diagnosing Alzheimer’s.
The new screening, called a p-tau217 test, could help diagnose whether patients with cognitive problems have Alzheimer’s or another disorder, according to a recently published JAMA study and a second study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Tuesday, July 14, The New York Times reports.
The test is used to measure the levels of phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217), which predicts the build-up of sticky beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. Those plaques accumulate in the brain over the course of decades and cause neurons to die, which can result in dementia.
The published study examined nearly 2,700 cognitively healthy older adults from six different research cohorts in Australia, North America and Japan.
The study found that those with the highest level of plaques have a 38% greater chance of developing early signs of dementia over five years. Those with the second-highest level of the plaques have a 24% risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in a five-year span. That chance increases to 62% by 10 years, the research indicates.
The likelihood that the test will accurately diagnose the patient has raised concerns among researchers. Dr. Suzanne Schindler of Washington University in St. Louis argues that the blood tests “are not yet precise enough to guide individualized prognosis,” according to the Associated Press.
However, when paired with additional screenings, including PET scans, lumbar punctures and neurological evaluations, the test’s diagnostic accuracy improved from 62% to 88%, according to the study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on July 14, per the NYT.
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Rachel Buckley, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and lead study author of the published JAMA study, believes this test could “function like tests that measure your risk of developing diabetes or having a heart attack,” CNN reported.
Fellow study author Dr. Reisa Sperling of the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute echoed the sentiment, explaining that the goal is to eventually enable patients to make a “decision about seeking treatment,” per NYT.
Regardless of the blood test’s possibilities, Sperling’s advice to patients remains the same: “Eat well, sleep well, exercise a lot, and stay engaged.”
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