Alzheimer's blood test can accurately pick up early symptoms
A new blood test for Alzheimer's disease can accurately detect people with early symptoms, research suggests.
Experts from the Mayo Clinic in the US have provided further evidence that blood tests can work to accurately diagnose dementia, by examining two proteins in blood plasma.
These proteins – amyloid beta 42/40 and p-tau217 – are associated with amyloid plaque build-up, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers found the blood test was highly accurate, with 95% sensitivity, which means it was 95% accurate in picking up people with memory problems, with very few cases missed.
It was also 82% for specificity, which means it was also highly accurate in ruling out people without dementia.
The study was carried out on more than 500 people in an outpatient memory clinic, meaning it is real-world data.
The blood test has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration regulator in the US.
Dr Gregg Day, who led the study in the Alzheimer's and Dementia journal, said the test was as good as more invasive tests currently in use.
'Our study found that blood testing affirmed the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease with 95% sensitivity and 82% specificity,' he said.
'When performed in the outpatient clinical setting, this is similar to the accuracy of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of the disease and is much more convenient and cost-effective.'
Overall, researchers found that p-tau217 levels were higher in patients with Alzheimer's disease versus those without the disease.
Dr Day said the next steps in the research were to evaluate blood-based testing in more diverse patient populations and people with early Alzheimer's who show no cognitive symptoms.
Dr Richard Oakley, associate director for research and innovation at the Alzheimer's Society in the UK, said the results 'suggest this test is very accurate' and could be used alongside other tests and observations from a trained health professional.
"This study shows how blood tests are making diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease quicker, easier and more accessible than ever before in a real-world setting," he added.
"While focused on Alzheimer's disease, the test was evaluated in people with other types of dementias too, showing that it may help with differentiate causes of cognitive decline – though more research in diverse groups of individuals and in community-based setting is still needed."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
13 hours ago
- New York Post
Bill Gates shares ‘next phase of Alzheimer's fight' as he speaks about his father's personal battle
Bill Gates is speaking out about his personal experience with Alzheimer's — and his hope for progress in fighting the disease. In an essay published this week on his blog at the Microsoft co-founder and tech billionaire, 69, reflected on the difficulty of spending another Father's Day without his dad, Bill Gates Sr. Advertisement The elder Gates passed away in 2020 at the age of 94 after battling Alzheimer's. 'It was a brutal experience, watching my brilliant, loving father go downhill and disappear,' Gates wrote in the blog post. Today, motivated by his own experience with the common dementia, Gates — who serves as chair of the Gates Foundation — is committed to working toward a cure for the common dementia, which currently affects more than seven million Americans, or one in nine people over 65. In his blog, Gates expressed optimism about the 'massive progress' being made in the fight against Alzheimer's and other dementias. Advertisement Last year, Gates said he visited Indiana University's School of Medicine in Indianapolis to tour the labs where teams have been researching Alzheimer's biomarkers. 5 Bill Gates (left) is speaking out about his personal experience with Alzheimer's — and his hope for progress in fighting the disease. Brian Ach 'I also got the opportunity to look under the hood of new automated machines that will soon be running diagnostics around the world,' he wrote. 'It's an exciting time in a challenging space.' One of the biggest breakthroughs in Alzheimer's research, according to Gates, is blood-based diagnostic tests, which detect the ratio of amyloid plaques in the brain. (Amyloid plaques, clumps of protein that accumulate in the brain, are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's.) Advertisement 'I'm optimistic that these tests will be a game-changer,' Gates wrote. 5 The elder Gates passed away in 2020 at the age of 94 after battling Alzheimer's. Bloomberg via Getty Images Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first blood-based test for patients 55 years and older, as Fox News Digital reported at the time. Traditionally, Gates noted, the primary path to Alzheimer's diagnosis was either a PET scan (medical imaging) or spinal tap (lumbar puncture), which were usually only performed when symptoms emerged. Advertisement The hope is that blood-based tests could do a better job of catching the disease early, decline begins. 5 Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first blood-based test for patients 55 years and older, as Fox News Digital reported at the time. – 'We now know that the disease begins 15 to 20 years before you start to see any signs,' Gates wrote. 'A simple, accurate and easy-to-run blood test might one day make routine screening possible, identifying patients long before they experience cognitive decline,' he stated. Gates said he is often asked, 'What is the point of getting diagnosed if I can't do anything about it?' Start and end your day informed with our newsletters Morning Report and Evening Update: Your source for today's top stories Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters To that end, he expressed his optimism for the future of Alzheimer's treatments, noting that two drugs — Lecanemab (Leqembi) and Donanemab (Kisunla) — have gained FDA approval. 'Both have proven to modestly slow down the progression of the disease, but what I'm really excited about is their potential when paired with an early diagnostic,' Gates noted. Advertisement He said he is also hopeful that the blood tests will help speed up the process of enrolling patients in clinical trials for new Alzheimer's drugs. 5 The hope is that blood-based tests could do a better job of catching the disease early, decline begins. Monkey Business – To accomplish this, Gates is calling for increased funding for research, which often comes from federal grants. 'This is the moment to spend more money on research, not less,' he wrote, also stating that 'the quest to stop Alzheimer's has never had more momentum.' Advertisement 'There is still a huge amount of work to be done — like deepening our understanding of the disease's pathology and developing even better diagnostics,' Gates went on. 5 Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, his wife Melinda, far left, his father Bill Gates Sr., and his step-mother Mimi Gates pose for a photo in 2007. AP Gates pointed out that when his father had Alzheimer's, it was considered a 'death sentence,' but that is starting to change. Advertisement 'I am blown away by how much we have learned about Alzheimer's over the last couple of years,' he wrote. 'I cannot help but be filled with a sense of hope when I think of all the progress being made on Alzheimer's, even with so many challenges happening around the world. We are closer than ever before to a world where no one has to watch someone they love suffer from this awful disease.'
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Scientists make concerning discovery after studying farmland soil: 'Highlights the urgent need for coordinated scientific and regulatory efforts'
Microplastics may be tiny in size, but a recent study shows they have a huge impact on our crops. Worrying new research has been highlighted by detailing the profound impact that microplastics have on soil and the crops that grow in contaminated areas. The study, originally published in the Environmental Sciences Europe journal, found that "agricultural soils now hold around 23 times more microplastics than oceans." The review stated that microplastics and nanoplastics have been discovered in lettuce, wheat, and carrot crops, with the lead researcher, Joseph Boctor, saying, "These microplastics are turning food-producing land into a plastic sink." Microplastics are flakes of plastic less than 5 millimeters in length. Plastics that can't biodegrade break down into smaller and smaller pieces, which are difficult to get rid of. They are incredibly pervasive, entering oceans, soil, animals, and human bodies. Animals and humans can consume the particles that end up in water, soil, and food sources, and microplastics may even be inhaled. Unfortunately, the presence of microplastics has been linked to serious health issues. A Washington Post article associated these tiny pollutants with a greater risk of heart disease, kidney disease, Alzheimer's, and fertility issues. "This review highlights the urgent need for coordinated scientific and regulatory efforts," Boctor said. "Regulators, scientists, and industry must collaborate to close the loopholes before plastic pollution further entrenches itself in the global food chain." In hopes of preventing the creation of microplastics in the future, Boctor and his colleagues at the Bioplastics Innovation Hub are in the process of creating plastic that decomposes in both soil and water. There are also a lot of things you can do in your everyday life that reduce microplastic pollution. The key thing to do is to move away from using plastic. More eco-friendly kitchen utensils and containers, made of materials such as wood, glass, or ceramic, can prevent the release of microplastics in the dishwasher. Do you worry about using cleaning products with harsh chemicals in them? All the time Sometimes Not really No — never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Another way microplastics are released is through the clothes we wear. Man-made fibers like nylon and polyester shed every time we wash our clothes, so try to choose natural fibers, such as cotton and linen, when you can. Installing a filter on your washing machine is another great way to prevent microplastics from polluting the water system. Though these tiny pollutants are proving to be a mammoth problem to tackle, there are many scientists working on ingenious solutions. For example, some researchers at the University of British Columbia have discovered they can filter up to 99.99% of microplastics from water using sawdust and plant-based tannins. At Princeton Engineering, researchers have found a way to clean microplastics out of the ocean by using egg whites, and it is only a matter of time until even more scientific solutions for microplastic pollution are created. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Medscape
18 hours ago
- Medscape
DLBCL: Tumor Cell Signatures Predict CAR-T Success
Traits of noncancerous cells in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) tumors appear to offer insight into which patients will benefit the most from chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, researchers reported at the 18th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) 2025 in Lugano, Switzerland, and in a simultaneously published study in Cancer Cell . An analysis of DLBCL tumor cells led by investigators from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, identified three 'lymphoma microenvironment archetype profiles' — two that are abnormal and one that is in the normal range. The research suggests that 'diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients who have this normal lymph node environment are those most likely to benefit from CAR T-cell therapy. This may be a very useful predictive biomarker to select patients who would really benefit from this treatment,' said discussant Stephen M. Ansell, MB ChB, PhD, chair of Hematology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, at an ICML session where the findings were presented. Defining the Lymphoma 'Microenvironment' The researchers launched the study to better understand the lymphoma microenvironment, defined as 'all of the nontumor cells that define the architecture and immune state of DLBCLs,' said co-author Michael R. Green, PhD, associate professor and vice chair for Research, Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in an interview. 'With the introduction of T-cell engaging therapies and cellular therapies, which are currently used in the relapsed/refractory setting and are likely primarily influenced by the immune microenvironment, we saw a need to provide a comprehensive map of immune and nonimmune cells within DLBCLs,' Green said. The focus, he said, is on 'how they are assembled into reproducible microenvironment archetypes and how these relate to outcome in patients treated with cellular therapy.' Using single-nucleus multiome sequencing, researchers analyzed cells from 232 tumors and 232 control tissues. At the ICML presentation, study co-author David A. Russler-Germain, MD, PhD, instructor, Division of Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, Siteman Cancer Center/Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri, said three archetypes of cells were identified: FMAC archetype (37% of tumors): 'Characterized by a sparsity of T/K [T/natural killer] cells and an overrepresentation of cancer-associated fibroblasts and macrophages' (37% of tumors): 'Characterized by a sparsity of T/K [T/natural killer] cells and an overrepresentation of cancer-associated fibroblasts and macrophages' LN archetype (33% of tumors): 'Characterized by naive and memory T cells together with lymph node architecture cell types' (33% of tumors): 'Characterized by naive and memory T cells together with lymph node architecture cell types' TEX archetype (30% of tumors): 'Characterized by an abundance of CD8+ T cells with markers of exhaustion' Dramatic Differences in CAR-T Response Rates Researchers applied the data to the ZUMA-7 clinical trial, which compared CAR-T cell therapy to standard chemotherapy, and found signs that the archetypes had predictive power. Patients with the LN archetype — resembling normal lymph node architecture — had the best outcomes with CAR-T therapy, achieving 67% progression-free survival at 1 year. FMAC and TEX archetypes had much lower success rates of 43% and 35%, respectively. 'The key data related to outcome is that LN archetype patients highly benefit from CAR T, FMAC patients have a diminished benefit, but it is still significantly better than standard of care, and TEX patients have no significant benefit to CAR T compared to standard of care,' Green said. 'This is the first biological subgroup of patients shown clearly not to benefit from CAR T with underlying biology that provides direct and targetable mechanisms of resistance.' Implications for Personalized Treatment As the study noted, the introduction of CAR T-cell therapy as a second-line therapy in DLBCL 'has significantly improved outcomes and leads to durable responses beyond 2 years in > 40% of patients. Nevertheless, most patients will not have durable benefit from [CAR T], highlighting a critical need to understand factors influencing response.' According to Green, the findings suggest that CAR T-cell therapy could be tailored for each archetype. 'LN patients will likely have good outcomes with CAR T alone, whereas FMAC patients have a cold microenvironment that may benefit from 'microenvironment priming' prior to CAR T, and TEX patients may require combination of CAR T cells with other agents such as interferon gamma and checkpoint-blocking antibodies.' The study's classification system, known as LymphoMAP, is not yet available in the clinic. However, it 'will be prospectively evaluated in interventional trials using microenvironment-guided therapeutic strategies using CAR-T or bispecific antibodies as a backbone,' Green said. Moving forward, discussant Ansell said, 'there is a great opportunity look at the good outcome group and say, 'What is it about them that causes about half of those patients to subsequently progress or die and not do as well as what we would hope?' How could we make that top group, the responding group, do even better?' This research was funded by the Schweitzer Family, the MD Anderson Lymphoid Malignancies Program and the National Cancer Institute. Green is a scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and two authors are supported by fellowships from the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
