A team of scientists has made a significant advance towards the long-awaited goal of diagnosing Alzheimer's disease through a simple test with an accuracy of 90%. The researchers revealed a straightforward blood test that showed high accuracy in diagnosing Alzheimer’s compared to doctors’ interpretations of cognitive tests and CT scans indicating the condition. The study found that the blood test accurately identified whether patients with memory issues were suffering from Alzheimer’s disease with an accuracy rate of 90%.
Experts noted that the common factor among all individuals with Alzheimer's is a steady loss of key nerve cells associated with a marked increase in abnormal proteins, particularly beta-amyloid and tau, which cluster and intertwine in ways that lead to direct cell damage. In the study, the team recruited 1,213 patients who were assessed by family doctors or Alzheimer’s specialists in Sweden between February 2020 and January 2024. Approximately two-thirds of the patients were classified as experiencing self-reported cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment, while the remaining third received a diagnosis of dementia based on a combination of clinical and cognitive tests.
In addition to the blood test, most patients underwent a thorough examination of cerebrospinal fluid, while some underwent specific imaging scans to assess abnormal protein aggregations in the brain. The results indicated that the accuracy was good in both types of assessments, predicting Alzheimer’s disease with 90% accuracy.
