First FDA digited Alzheimer’s blood test could make diagnoses faster, more accurate

A new blood test that detects a characteristic of Alzheimer’s is ready to change the way doctors diagnose and treat the disease.

The test, the first of its kind to be tidy Because of the Food and Drug Administration, it is for people aged 55 and over who already have memory problems or other signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

The results show whether the brain of a person with cognitive symptoms also has amyloid plaques, dumps toxic proteins that accumulate in the spaces between brain cells. The presence of plaques in a person with cognitive symptoms usually confirms a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.

“I think the blood test will really bring about a revolution in the way people with Alzheimer’s are cared for and diagnosed,” says Dr. Howard FillitChief Science Officer at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.

“Doctors for primary care will now have access to something that can read them faster” about whether a patient has Alzheimer’s, says Maria CarrilloChief Science Officer of the Alzheimer’s Association.

An advantage of an easily available blood test will be more accurate diagnoses, says Fillit, and notes that doctors currently correctly diagnose the first -line doctors.

“Special neurologists get good as seventy, eighty percent of the time,” he says. “With the blood test we can deliver it to more than 90%.”

A PET -Scan Is the gold standard for detecting the amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s. But the technology is expensive and not available in many communities.

Another option is to test liquid from a spinal tap, an invasive procedure that tends most doctors and patients to avoid.

There are already lab-developed blood tests that can indicate the presence of amyloid. But the Lumipulse test, made by the Diagnostic company Fujirebio, is the first to receive marketing freedom from the FDA.

Having such a test probably means that many more people will be diagnosed if their symptoms are still mild and possibly treated.

A study by the Alzheimer’s Association showed that the vast majority of older Americans would do a blood test to find out if they have the disease.

People who are diagnosed while they are still eligible in the early stages of Alzheimer’s may be eligible to receive one of the two amyloid-reducing medicines that are now on the market.

Lab-developed blood tests are mainly used by researchers or by specialists in large medical centers. The test that is erased by the FDA will probably attract a much wider audience.

“It is through rigorous evaluation and it offers prescribers about who is eligible and when the test should be provided,” says Carrillo.

The result should be more testing of people in rural or disadvantaged areas.

“Blood tests have given us the opportunity to really democratize these types of tests,” says Carrillo.

It also means that much more of the estimated 7.2 million Americans Thought they live with Alzheimer’s, will probably get a formal diagnosis.

To help healthcare providers advise these people, the Alzheimer’s Association writes guidelines on how you can talk to patients about the results of a blood test, what it means to live with the disease and what the treatment options are.

The guidelines are expected this summer.