Blood test could be accurate way to detect Alzheimer’s disease

blood test examined under micrscope A commercial blood test could detect Alzheimer's disease as accurately as standard lumbar punctures, finds a new study involving a UCL researcher. The research, published in JAMA Neurology, found that the ALZpath's Blood-Based Test was capable of detecting 'p-tau217', a form of the protein tau, which is a hallmark protein of Alzheimer's disease. People with Alzheimer's have a build-up of proteins known as amyloid and tau in their brain, which is one of the main ways to detect the disease. However, there is currently a limited availability of tests for research and clinical use. Consequently, Alzheimer's is generally diagnosed based on people's symptoms, such as thinking or memory problems. And only 2% of people receive a dementia diagnosis through 'gold standard' methods, such as positron emission tomography (PET) scans or lumbar punctures. Lumbar punctures are expensive and cost typically two to three times higher than blood-based testing.