BLOOD TEST FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. PROMISING – BUT. The blood test (for P-Tau 217) examined in this research (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768841) appears to distinguish Alzheimer’s disease from other common causes of dementia. That is potentially useful for research and could be practically and clinically useful as well, for at least two reasons: (1) to provide a diagnosis – an explanation for a person experiencing problems with functions such as memory or word-finding. (2) to allow early interventions which could stop or slow the destructive brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s. But we still don’t have proven, powerfully effective interventions of this kind. Also, as the researcher-authors write, there are still large steps to be taken to see if there findings apply ‘to confirm the value of plasma P-tau217 levels as a marker of disease progression and to determine how early in the disease trajectory it starts to increase in sporadic AD’. These and other giant steps need to be taken before ‘the assay can be used in clinical practice’. The article in The Conversation provides a balanced view of the issues.
https://theconversation.com/the-importance-of-blood-tests-for-alzheimers-2-neuroscientists-explain-the-recent-findings-143656