Blood tests could replace spinal taps in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease

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This is the web edition of STAT’s AAIC in 30 newsletter .

Hello there from the final day of the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. This is our last edition of this pop-up newsletter, but if you somehow haven’t tired of me, you can join me as well as my colleagues Damian Garde and Katherine MacPhail tomorrow to recap AAIC and discuss how the research presented here fits into the broader direction of the field. You can register for the virtual event here . It’s at 10 a.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. here in the U.K.

With next year’s AAIC set for Chicago, and as this nation descends into full World Cup mania in the coming hours, I’ll end by saying thanks for following along with me here in London.

How blood tests could reshape the future of identifying dementia

Traditionally, an Alzheimer’s diagnosis comes after a brain scan or spinal tap, or perhaps some cognitive tests administered by a behavioral neurologist. The tests can be burdensome, and specialist capacity is limited.

But research presented throughout the conference indicated how the field is moving in new directions, finding ways to make testing much more accessible, and offering more nuanced results that go beyond saying whether someone has Alzheimer’s or not.

In particular, blood-based biomarker tests that can help with diagnoses have started to come onto the market . The Alzheimer’s Association has also started to issue guidelines for how doctors should use them .

One study detailed here looked at whether these tests could be used in the primary care setting. Alzheimer’s experts say it’s crucial for more doctors to be able to diagnose the condition, particularly with the availability of new treatments that are more beneficial the earlier they can be used. Wait times for neurologists can extend for months, if not over a year.

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