'Holy Grail' dementia-detecting blood test could be here in five years, docs say
Scientists aim to develop a “holy grail” NHS test for dementia within five years.
The blood check could identify more than 200,000 Brits who have the disease but are undiagnosed. Experts say we are “on the cusp of a new era” of dementia drugs.
Alzheimer’s Research UK and Alzheimer’s Society will start a £5million project in January to find a simple blood test for the NHS. Dr Susan Kohlhaas, research director at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said the NHS needs investment to ensure earlier diagnoses.
She said: “Low-cost tools like blood tests that are non-invasive and simpler to administer than current gold standard methods are the answer to this. But we need to move these tests out of the lab and assess their effectiveness in real world settings like the NHS.”
The main form of dementia is Alzheimer’s in which proteins amyloid and tau build up in the brain. PET scans can spot amyloid but scanners are limited.The NHS has 0.5 scanners per million people. It is between 1.6 and 5.1 in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the US. The proteins can enter the spinal fluid but polls for the charities show 54% are reluctant to get a lumbar puncture test.
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Only one in 50 dementia patients get either a PET scan or lumbar puncture. Most diagnoses come after extensive cognitive tests.
Protein biomarkers are also known to enter the blood stream so a third and much cheaper option would be a blood test. Currently, a third of dementia sufferers never get a diagnosis.
Dr Fiona Carragher, research director at the Alzheimer’s Society, said they often end up in hospital because they never receive care. Around 950,000 Brits have dementia including one in every 11 people over 65. This is forecast to rise to 1.4 million by 2040.
Experts say such research requires access to NHS patients who have started experiencing minor memory problems but are generally coping well with daily life. These crucial participants with ‘mild cognitive impairment’ will be recruited from NHS memory clinics for the £5 million research project to develop a blood test.
This could confirm earlier clinical trial data suggesting blood tests work but in “real world” populations. It could eventually identify people who have dementia but have yet to start experiencing any symptoms.
It is hoped they could then be used alongside cognitive testing to provide a firm diagnosis.
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