2024-03-02 13:27:00
Discovering Alzheimer’s disease with just a simple blood test is on the verge of being actually achieved following many years of research. It will therefore constitute a revolutionary development in this field, but the patients themselves will not see the benefit from it unless effective treatments for this disease become available following a long wait.
Neurologist Giovanni Frisoni, one of Europe’s leading specialists in Alzheimer’s disease, told AFP: “Blood biomarkers will change the way we make diagnoses.”
Diagnosis in this way has been one of the main focuses of research on this disease, which is the most common form of dementia and irreversibly affects tens of millions of people around the world.
The idea is to provide the ability, through a simple blood test, to monitor indicators that reveal the physiological mechanisms by which the disease begins.
Scientists have obtained data on two main mechanisms, without reaching a complete understanding of the interaction between them. The first is the formation of what is known as amyloid protein plaques in the brain, which put pressure on neurons and ultimately destroy them, and the second is the accumulation of other proteins called tau within the neurons themselves.
There are already tests available to detect Alzheimer’s disease, one of which is through a lumbar (or spinal) puncture, and the second is through a medical imaging technique, which is positron emission tomography (PET). But because these tests are long, heavy and expensive, many patients are satisfied with clinical results, such as severe memory loss.
Some blood tests have already been put on the market, but few of them are used in practice pending data on their true benefit. However, in recent months, many studies have proven the effectiveness of some blood tests in monitoring internal signs of the disease.
The most prominent of these studies were published last January in the journal JAMA Neurology. The study, which was based on monitoring the condition of regarding 800 people, concluded that the blood test can detect an abnormal amount of amyloid or tau proteins with an effectiveness similar to the currently approved tests.
Most importantly, the effectiveness of this test has been proven at a pre-clinical stage, even before the known symptoms of this disease appear.
The medical community in general expressed satisfaction with this important progress, despite some gaps, including the need to confirm this effectiveness in practice, in addition to the fact that this test only shows the presence of physiological mechanisms that do not systematically lead to dementia.
first step
Neurologist Bart de Strooper said in a comment on the British Science Media Center platform that it is “an excellent study that greatly brings the possibility of using a regular blood test to monitor Alzheimer’s disease.”
In the United Kingdom, this development has almost become a reality. The programme, started by several anti-Alzheimer’s organisations, has been aiming since last year to test the usefulness of these blood tests within the British healthcare system.
However, detecting the disease at an early stage loses its importance in the absence of any effective treatment. However, many neurologists now hope that medications will achieve the desired results.
After decades of research have failed to find treatments, there appear to be two promising drugs, one from Eli Lilly and the other from Biogen, that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by attacking amyloid plaques.
Although their effectiveness is limited, and their side effects are severe, many neurologists believe that they are a first step towards other, more effective treatments.
In light of this, it is hoped that being able to use a simple blood test to detect Alzheimer’s disease as quickly as possible will increase the effectiveness of any drug.
An important detail is that the blood test allowed early diagnosis in patients who already suffer from poor memory, and not in anyone else.
“There is no benefit today in testing blood biomarkers in people who do not suffer from cognitive deficits, as this will only lead to harm,” Frisoni said.
What is the benefit of discovering a high risk of contracting the disease, if there are no concrete means to prevent its appearance? However, Frisoni does not rule out that Alzheimer’s screening might one day become a reality.
He said, “We are currently testing some medications aimed at reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia.” “Maybe, in five or ten years, this will be in clinical practice. Then, I will be able to recommend measuring blood biomarkers (as a screening tool), but not today,” he added.
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