Scientists close to developing blood test for detecting dementia a decade early
Representative photo
Researchers are hopeful that a blood test could soon enable doctors to predict dementia in patients more than a decade before it is formally identified. The hopes were raised after scientists detected biological markers linked to dementia in blood samples collected from 50,000 healthy individuals in the UK.
The scientists were able to identify patterns of four proteins that indicated the emergence of dementia in patients of older age.
Overall, the protein profiles enabled scientists to predict dementia in patients with a remarkable 90 per cent accuracy. “We hope to develop this as a screening kit that can be used in the NHS,” said Prof Jianfeng Feng, who holds posts at the University of Warwick and Fudan University in China.
Why is this significant?
Recent studies have highlighted the potential of blood tests in identifying individuals at risk of developing dementia. Armed with this knowledge, doctors could prioritise certain patients for further evaluations, including comprehensive diagnostic testing for Alzheimer's disease.
Early confirmation of the disease is essential for patients to benefit from two new Alzheimer's drugs, lecanemab and donanemab, currently under review by the UK medicines regulator.
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The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will assess the cost-effectiveness of these drugs before considering their availability through the NHS.
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While lecanemab has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and donanemab's approval is imminent, European regulators are still evaluating both medications.
Concerns over use of the drugs
Lecanemab, a synthetic antibody therapy developed by Biogen in the US and Eisai in Japan, gained attention in 2022 for its ability to slow Alzheimer's progression. However, concerns have also been raised by doctors and medical charities regarding the readiness of healthcare services to administer such treatments.
To be eligible for lecanemab or donanemab, patients must have early-stage Alzheimer's and undergo a lumbar puncture or PET scan to confirm the presence of amyloid protein in the brain, a characteristic hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
However, Alzheimer's Research UK estimates that only two per cent of eligible patients undergo such testing.
(With inputs from agencies)