Prime Highlights:
- A new blood test in the UK could make Alzheimer’s diagnosis faster, easier, and more affordable for patients across Europe.
- The trial aims to provide early results that can help doctors make quicker decisions and improve the quality of life for patients and families.
Key Facts:
- The trial will involve 1,100 participantsacross 20 NHS centers, testing levels of the protein p-tau217 in the blood.
- Currently, only 2% of Alzheimer’s patientsreceive gold-standard diagnostic tests like brain scans or lumbar punctures.
Key Background:
A new trial in the United Kingdom is testing a simple blood test that could make Alzheimer’s diagnosis faster, easier, and more affordable for patients across Europe.
The study, led by University College London, is recruiting patients from memory clinics throughout the UK to determine whether measuring the protein p-tau217 in the blood can provide an early and reliable diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Traditionally, confirming the disease requires expensive brain scans or invasive lumbar punctures, which only 2 percent of patients currently receive.
Professor Jonathan Schott, Chief Medical Officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK and co-lead of the trial, highlighted the significance of the research: “After decades of study, we now have a blood test for Alzheimer’s that provides comparable information to gold-standard tests like PET scans and lumbar punctures, yet is far more accessible and cost-effective.”
The trial will involve 1,100 participants across 20 NHS centers. Half of the participants will receive their results within three months, while the other half will get them after a year. Researchers will analyze whether early access to results accelerates diagnosis, informs clinical decisions, and improves the quality of life for patients.
For many European families affected by Alzheimer’s, early detection could make a major difference. Michael White, whose wife Kathryn was diagnosed after a two-and-a-half-year journey, said: “A blood test like this would have helped us make a diagnosis right at the start and would have made a real difference.”
This research is part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge, a multi-million-pound program supported by Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, and players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
With dementia cases rising across Europe and worldwide, over 10 million new cases each year, and more than 55 million people living with dementia in 2020, projected to reach 139 million by 2050, this study offers hope for quicker, more effective care.
This research is part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge, a multi-million-pound program supported by Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, and players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
