NEWCASTLE scientists have discovered a blood test that is close to accurately detecting the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
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The team found that measuring 11 proteins in the blood can provide a predictive test that is 85 per cent accurate in detecting Alzheimer’s disease before any symptoms appear.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and affects one in every 25 people aged over 60.
Professor Pablo Moscato, along with doctors Dan Johnston, Regina Berreta and Liz Milward are the University of Newcastle team that made the discovery.
It assessed the levels of 190 proteins in the blood from 566 people with either Alzheimer’s disease, a mild cognitive impairment or normal cognition.
The team believes further monitoring of the results over time could increase the accuracy of the test above 90 per cent.
Professor Moscato said the discovery would make the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s cheaper and less invasive.
The usual biological markers used in early detection tests are either expensive, such as brain imaging, or invasive, such as spinal punctures.
