LONDON, 29 July. - (ANA) - Scientists say a blood test capable of spotting for Alzheimer’s 20 years before memory loss and confusion occur is on the horizon. 

 

Researchers discovered that tiny fragments of a protein which appears in the brain of people with dementia appears in the blood early in the illness. 

 

The discovery may allow doctors to diagnose the condition when it is still possible to halt or reverse deterioration in the brain.

 

Breakthroughs in blood tests have boosted hopes that there soon may be a simple way for doctors to detect Alzheimer’s disease years before symptoms appear.

 

Scientists from the US and Europe say data indicates that levels of a specific form of tau protein – one of the hallmark proteins of Alzheimer’s – can be detected in blood.

 

One blood test developed by the research team at Lund University in Sweden may be able to detect changes in the brain around 20 years before dementia symptoms occur.

 

Researchers reported results of multiple encouraging studies on blood test advances for abnormal versions of the tau protein during the latest Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

 

Dr Amanda Heslegrave, a senior research fellow at the UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, welcomed the “exciting” findings, but also urged caution.

 

Dr Rosa Sancho, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said further work will need to be carried out at a larger scale “before they could be used by doctors making a diagnosis in the clinic”.

 

Currently, scans and tests of spinal fluid are the only ways to detect the brain changes that occur before Alzheimer’s dementia symptoms appear. But these methods are expensive and invasive.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/29 July 2020 - - -