Early Detection IDs Alzheimer’s Disease

Now posited to be a much larger cause of death than as reported, Alzheimer’s Disease may contribute to as many deaths in the United States as heart disease or cancer.  With no cure or effective treatment, a primary clinical objective is to detect Alzheimer’s Disease as early as possible, to allow maximum time to implement disease-modifying intervention. Howard J. Federoff, from Georgetown University Medical Center (Washington DC, USA), and colleagues have developed and validated a blood test that can predict with greater than 90% accuracy if a healthy person will develop mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease within three years. The test identifies 10 lipids, or fats, in the blood that predict disease onset. The researchers examined if the presence of the APOE4 gene, a known risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s Disease, would contribute to accurate classification of the groups, but found it was not a significant predictive factor in this study. Writing that: “This biomarker panel, reflecting cell membrane integrity, may be sensitive to early neurodegeneration of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease,” the study authors are optimistic that the test could be ready for use in clinical studies in as few as two years.