A simple finger-prick blood test may one day be able to detect Alzheimer’s disease long before symptoms appear.
This early research comes from the PREDICTOM consortium in Europe, which includes experts from UZ Brussels and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Their goal is to make testing for Alzheimer’s easier, less stressful, and more widely available than current methods.
Right now, diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is complicated. Doctors often need to do invasive tests like taking fluid from the spine, advanced brain scans, or detailed memory and thinking tests.
These are expensive and not easy for everyone to access, especially people who live far from hospitals or have mobility issues. Even though new blood tests are becoming available, they still need to be done in medical labs and are not yet fully routine.
This is where the new finger-prick test could be a game-changer. It works like the small blood sugar test many people with diabetes use. The researchers are checking if this simple test can accurately measure a protein called p-Tau217. This protein is known to increase in the brain during the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
The early results are very promising. The researchers compared the finger-prick test with well-known diagnostic tools and found that it gave reliable results.
This means the new test may be even easier to use than current blood tests that are starting to be used in clinics. Unlike other tests, the finger-prick version could be done outside of hospitals, like at a doctor’s office or even at home in the future.
Over time, this kind of testing could help find Alzheimer’s earlier and more often. Because it is simple, low-cost, and less stressful, it could be used to monitor people regularly over the years.
This could be especially helpful for people with a family history of Alzheimer’s or those at higher risk. Early diagnosis is becoming even more important now that treatments for Alzheimer’s work best when started before symptoms show up.
Professor Sebastiaan Engelborghs, one of the leaders of the study, says this research could lead to a big change in how Alzheimer’s is diagnosed. He explains that catching the disease early gives doctors a better chance to help patients and start treatments while the brain is still functioning well.
The research is part of the larger PREDICTOM study, which will continue until 2027. More testing is needed before the finger-prick method can be used in hospitals and clinics. But the early results suggest that it could soon become a helpful tool in both diagnosis and research.
If the test works well in future studies, it could also make it easier for more people to take part in research studies on Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Since the test is less invasive, it could help researchers gather more data from a wider range of people.
In summary, the finger-prick test could become a major step forward in the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. It is simple, quick, and may help catch the disease years before memory loss and other symptoms begin. While more research is needed, the future looks hopeful.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about Vitamin D deficiency linked to Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, and Oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about Vitamin B9 deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and results showing flavonoid-rich foods could improve survival in Parkinson’s disease.
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