A Spanish-led study has confirmed that a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s can be determined using a simple blood test.
The research was carried out by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute in Barcelona and the BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Centre (BBRC) of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation.
The work studied 1,767 patients and was assisted by the University of Gothenburg and Lund University in Sweden and the Hospital and University of Brescia in Italy.
It found that the the risk of Alzheimer’s in people with symptoms of cognitive decline can be determined with more than 90% accuracy based on the detection of the phospho-tau217 biomarker in blood.
It means future patients could be singled out for further tests and treatment far more easily and earlier, saving health services time and money.
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Specifically, the costs associated with diagnosing Alzheimer’s could fall by between 60% and 81%, researchers said.
This is expected to improve access to early diagnosis and clinical management of the disease.
However, authors of the study said further analysis will be needed before the test’s implementation in clinical practice.
Researchers said a Japanese blood-testing system, Luimpulse p-tau217, can detect the biomarker in the patient’s system.
They believe the machine, made by the Fujirebio company, can establish at which levels it can be ‘assured’ that someone will develop the disease or be free of risk.
The biomarker tests have an accuracy of over 90%, although it is lower in patients over 80 years old.
This makes it possible to determine which people should undergo other tests, such as a lumbar puncture or a PET scan, and which ones do not require further testing, explains
Marc Suarez-Calvet, attending physician of the Neurology Department at Hospital del Mar, said the tests will let physicians know which patients should undergo more tests, such as a lumbar puncture or PET scan.
However he said the biomarker tests should never be used as an ‘isolated test’ and should always be interpreted by a neurologist or other expert.
