Advocates hopeful new ‘Alzheimer’s blood test’ will improve patient care

Researchers out of Georgetown University Medical Centre have discovered a blood test that can predict whether a healthy person will develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease within 3 years.

“Our novel blood test offers the potential to identify people at risk for progressive cognitive decline and can change how patients, their family and physicians manage their disorder,” the study’s author, Dr. Howard Federoff explains.

After following 525 healthy seniors over 5 years, researchers tested patients who went on to developed mild cognitive problems and found they shared similar biomarkers.

“There was a small number of circulating blood fats, lipids, which were able to predict whether cognitively normal individuals would go on to develop impairments,” says Federoff.

Researchers believe the test could be ready for use in clinical studies in as little as two years.

Advocates with the Alzheimer’s Society of Calgary say the discovery should give families hope.

“The medications we have available right now do not stop or cure the disease. They just give a little more time for the person to maintain their level of function,” explains Padma Genesh, the Society’s learning specialist. “If this works out, it’s an opportunity for people to try these medications at the very early stage even before the person starts experiencing symptoms.”

Dr. Federoff says early detection could also help scientists develop new therapies.

“There have been many efforts to develop drugs that were thought to modify the history of alzheimer’s disease and sadly all of them have failed,” he explains. “One of the reasons for this may be that the stage in which they were evaluated, – which is in patients who already have the disease – may be the wrong stage.”

Federoff’s team is now designing a follow up study, in which those who have tested as high risk to develop dementia will be given experimental treatments that may delay or prevent the condition.

This research was published in the March 9, 2014 online edition of Nature Medicine (link: http://www.nature.com/news/biomarkers-could-predict-alzheimer-s-before-it-starts-1.14834)