Alzheimer's test developed
Monday, 15 Oct 2007 00:01
People's blood could hold clues for Alzheimer's disease
Science In Focus
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A blood test has been developed that could predict whether someone will develop Alzheimer's disease two to six years before symptoms appear, scientists claim.
In trials the test was found to have 90 per cent agreement with clinical diagnoses.
There are currently 700,000 people in the UK with a form of dementia, costing the UK over £17 billion a year.
The test, which is described today in the journal Nature Medicine, works by identifying changes in a small number of proteins in blood plasma that cells use to send messages to one another.
These changes were found to be linked to changes in the brain that accompany Alzheimer's.
Currently the disease is diagnosed by ruling out other causes of memory loss and cognitive declines, such as stroke, tumours and alcoholism.
"Just as a psychiatrist can conclude a lot of things by listening to the words of a patient, so by 'listening' to different proteins we are measuring whether something is going wrong in the cells," said the study's senior author Dr Tony Wyss-Coray, associate professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Commenting on the new test, Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research Alzheimer's Society, said the trials showed "promising results" and called for more research to be done on the blood test.
"The race is on to develop an effective test to diagnose Alzheimer's disease as early as possible. There are currently over 700,000 people with dementia in the UK and over half of these never get a diagnosis," she added.
"A blood test for detecting Alzheimer's disease would provide clinicians with a simple, non-invasive tool that could help them diagnose people with the disease. This would be a huge breakthrough in dementia research.
"The brain structures of a person with Alzheimer's disease can begin changing years before symptoms appear. Early diagnosis is essential if we are ever to develop treatments that can change the course or halt the progression of dementia rather than just treat the symptoms. In the future a blood test could be the key to stopping this devastating disease in its tracks before it starts to rob people of their lives."