A&D: Alzheimer’s disease can now be detected with a simple blood test.
Australian scientists from the national agency CSIRO have found a way to detect Alzheimer’s disease using a simple blood test — without expensive PET scans and invasive spinal taps. The study, published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia (A&D), showed that a combination of two tests (Lumipulse pTau217 and Aβ42/40 ratio) can accurately determine the presence of amyloid plaques in the brain, characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, with over 93 percent accuracy.
The experiment involved nearly 400 individuals — from cognitively healthy to patients with pronounced dementia symptoms. Using data from a large project, the researchers checked how the results of the blood test matched those of traditional methods. It turned out that the sensitivity of the new test reaches 99 percent — it correctly identifies almost all cases of the disease and reduces the number of ambiguous results by nearly half.
According to the lead author of the study, Dr. James Dake, the implementation of such tests will allow doctors to more quickly and accurately determine the stage of the disease in patients.
Researchers note that the shift to blood testing could be a breakthrough in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. It will not only make screening more accessible and widespread but also significantly reduce the burden on healthcare systems, especially in countries where modern imaging methods remain scarce.
