Blood Test Detects Onset of Alzheimer’s a Decade Early

The newest blood test to detect Alzheimer’s may be able to predict the disease 10 years before symptoms occur with 100% accuracy. Researchers from the National Institute on Aging are focusing on a protein in the brain called IRS-1 that may signal the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s.

Learn more about this study and what it means for future treatment and prevention methods.

Blood Test Detects Onset of Alzheimer’s

This year has seen the development of a few different types of blood tests that could potentially diagnose Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear. One test uses fats in the blood stream to predict dementia within three years with 90% accuracy, while the other blood test examined blood proteins and was able to predict the onset of dementia within a year with 87% accuracy.

The most recent test promises to detect Alzheimer’s earlier than any other test ever has by looking at a single protein in the brain called IRS-1, which plays a critical role in insulin signaling in the brain and is commonly defective in people with the disease.

Researchers from the National Institute on Aging, who presented the study at the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, D.C., gathered blood samples from 174 participants. Of the 174 participants, 70 had Alzheimer’s, 20 had diabetes and 84 were healthy. They found that the participants who had Alzheimer’s had higher amounts of the inactive form of IRS-1 and lower amounts of the active form than those adults who were healthy. The participants who were diabetic had intermediate levels of IRS-1.

The results of the study were so consistent across the board that researchers were able to look at results and predict with 100% accuracy if the person was healthy or had Alzheimer’s.

New Blood Marker Renews Hope for Blood Test to Detect Onset of Alzheimer’s

A recent study from the University of Otago has revealed another blood marker that could help diagnose Alzheimer’s through a simple blood test. Researchers found that participants with a small number of molecules found in the blood and brain called microRNAs can correctly detect Alzheimer’s with 86% accuracy.

The study involved participants that had been diagnosed with the disease, as well as neurologically healthy individuals. Researchers found that three microRNAs were different between the two groups, and detecting these microRNAs would be possible through a simple blood test. Dr. Joanna Williams who led the screening of microRNA in blood samples of participants said, “Although there are other known markers of early Alzheimer’s disease, such as an accumulation of the toxic protein beta amyloid in the brain, testing for these involves expensive or invasive procedures that can’t be used in routine clinical practice.”