A blood test may be able to predict whether apparently healthy adults are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease up to a decade before symptoms appear, according to research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London.
The test, called p-tau217, detects abnormal tau protein fragments in the blood. Researchers say it can predict whether someone is at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s symptoms within five to 10 years.
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A team from the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute analyzed data from 2,684 older adults. Those with high levels of p-tau217 had a 38% risk of developing cognitive impairment over five years, rising to 78% over a decade. Those with low levels of p-tau217 had a lower chance of cognitive impairment appearing over a 10-year period.
The p-tau217 test is already used to diagnose whether patients with existing cognitive issues have Alzheimer’s. However, some scientists caution that only a fraction of participants in the study were tracked for the full decade, and the tests are not yet precise enough to provide individual prognoses for patients.
Researchers say predicting a person’s risk of cognitive decline up to a decade before symptoms appear could transform early detection, prevention efforts, and drug development.
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