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Scientists Get Closer to Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease

Associated Press

   New study results are boosting hopes that there soon may be a simple,
   reliable way to help family doctors diagnose the most common form of
   dementia. Researchers say an experimental blood test was able to
   distinguish people with Alzheimer's disease from those without it in
   several studies.
   The accuracy ranged from 89% to 98%, though the test still needs more
   validation. Several companies are developing these tests, which measure
   a protein that damages the brains of people with the disease. The
   results were discussed at an Alzheimer's conference Tuesday, and some
   were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
   Developing such a test has been a long-sought goal, and scientists warn
   that the new approach still needs more validation and is not yet ready
   for wide use.
   But Tuesday's results suggest they're on the right track. The testing
   identified people with Alzheimer's vs. no dementia or other types of it
   with accuracy ranging from 89% to 98%.
   "That's pretty good. We've never seen that" much precision in previous
   efforts, said Maria Carrillo, the Alzheimer's Association's chief
   science officer.
   Dr. Eliezer Masliah, neuroscience chief at the U.S. National Institute
   on Aging, agreed.
   "The data looks very encouraging," he said. The new testing "appears to
   be even more sensitive and more reliable" than earlier methods, but it
   needs to be tried in larger, more diverse populations, he said.

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