Identifying Alzheimer’s Gets Easier By an Easy Blood Test

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Identifying Alzheimers Gets Easier By an Easy
Blood Test A neurologist may not be able to say
whether a patients forgetfulness is due to
natural aging, decreased blood flow to the brain,
or, more ominously, Alzheimers disease. A
conclusive Alzheimers diagnosis could only be
made during an autopsy for most of the previous
century. Patients can now be diagnosed with
Alzheimers disease even before signs occur due
to brain imaging advancements and spinal fluid
research. However, these invasive procedures are
costly and, in most cases, confined to research
environments, not a standard treatment for the
millions of people who suffer from the most
common neurodegenerative disease.
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The day is coming that an Alzheimers diagnosis
will be made in a doctors office. Advances in
technology for identifying early signs of
illness from a blood sample are aiding physicians
in more reliably diagnosing Alzheimers disease
and screening patients for clinical trials of
new therapies for the more than five million
people living with the disease in the United
States. According to Board-Certified Neurologists
projections, 76 million people worldwide will be
diagnosed with Alzheimers disease or other
dementias by 2030.
Blood tests could help identify who is at risk
from a preventative standpoint. Potential
participants for experimental drugs could also be
screened using testing. In some previous trials
of beta-amyloid-lowering treatments, 15 to 30
of patients who met clinical criteria for
Alzheimers disease were found to be free of
brain amyloid. In todays trials, participants
are frequently required to show evidence of
disease pathology via PET scans or CSF
measurements. According to a recent study
published on January 22 in the journal Brain,
pre-screening with a low-cost blood test could
cut the number of PET scans necessary to enroll
volunteers in half.
It would lower the cost of trials, allowing more
new drugs to be tested, raising the probability
of discovering a cure. Thijssen is a researcher
at Amsterdam University Medical Centres in the
Netherlands looking into blood biomarkers for
Alzheimers disease. Blood tests will be
instrumental in recognizing patients for drug
trials that could be most successful well before
the first symptoms of cognitive impairment
appear.
The quest for beta-amyloid isnt the only
possibility. According to some researchers,
other disease markers, such as certain protein
tau forms, may prove more promising when
integrated into Alzheimers blood tests.
Beta-amyloid levels begin to decrease early in
the disease process and then plateau, while tau
markers increase later in the disease process
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and continue to rise. This result indicates that
amyloid tests may be more effective for early
detection. At the same time, tau levels are more
useful at later stages of the disease for CNC
when someone is nearing or has already
established symptoms. Its time to get a checkup
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Posted by Complete Neurological Care24th Mar 2021
Posted in Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Disease,
Neurological Care, Neurological Diseases,
Neurological Disorders, Neurological Health,
Neurological Therapy, Neurological Treatments,
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Specialists, Neurology Treatment Tags Board-Cer
tified Long Island Neurologists, Board-Certified
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NeurologistsEdit Identifying Alzheimers Gets
Easier By an Easy Blood Test Published by
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