New Blood Test Proves Highly Accurate for Alzheimer's Disease

It won’t be long before screening for Alzheimer’s will be done with a simple blood test, making the current and invasive procedures a thing of the past.

A recent study in JAMA Neurology shows a new, highly reliable blood test called ALZPath developed to screen for Alzheimer’s is just as accurate as the traditional PET imaging and lumbar puncture or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests used today. This is a significant step forward at increasing accessibility and making screening for Alzheimer’s more widespread.

The ALZPath blood test, developed by researchers at Washington University, measures for a key biomarker of Alzheimer’s called p-tau217, also known as the Alzheimer’s proteins. Those suffering with Alzheimer’s experience an increase in not only the Alzheimer’s protein, but a build-up of other damaging proteins in the brain once only visible with a brain scan (PET) or detectible with a spinal tap. Both procedures are costly and often inaccessible.

This new test shows promise in redefining the screening process for Alzheimer’s. To date, testing is only used clinically for people who already show signs of memory loss or cognitive decline. But research shows that Alzheimer’s disease has a presymptomatic phase where the amyloid proteins build up in the brain before any symptoms arise.

ALZPath ptau-217 blood test is 96% accurate in identifying the elevated levels of beta amyloid and 97% in identifying the tau protein which will enable doctors to diagnose with a single blood sample. This test is currently available for research use only, but it is expected to be available for clinical use in the U.S. soon, with experts predicting that regional labs and large hospitals could start using the ALZPath tests in the next two to three years.