A new dementia blood test could detect whether or not a person will develop the condition within three years.
As a Dementia Friendly Surrey Champion Organisation, we are always interested to learn about scientific progress in the detection and treatment of dementia.
A dementia blood test could, according to reports, be used to predict with at least 90% accuracy whether people will go on to develop mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s.
This is because research has found differences in biomarkers in the blood between people with Alzheimer’s before the symptoms occur and people who will not go on to develop the condition.
Using a dementia blood test could help identify individuals who might benefit from more effective treatment strategies for Alzheimer’s at an earlier stage, hopefully slowing the onset of symptoms.
The reports of a dementia blood test were based on research carried out at Georgetown University Medical Centre.
Scientists studied 525 healthy participants, aged 70 or older, who were monitored for five years. 46 were diagnosed with dementia at the start of the dementia blood test study and 28 of the participants went on to develop dementia.
During the study, scientists discovered 10 molecules that appeared to “reveal the breakdown of neural cell membranes in participants who develop symptoms of cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s”.
By measuring the presence of these 10 compounds, the dementia blood test is able to predict with an accuracy level of 90% whether people would go on to suffer from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer’s (AD) within two to three years.
As with all scientific progress in the field of diagnosing and treating dementia, it is important not to get too carried away with the findings or create false hope for those suffering from dementia, or their families.
However, once these findings are confirmed, a dementia blood test could represent a major step towards successfully identifying people at risk of Alzheimer’s.
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