A simple blood test is as effective at flagging symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease as expensive scans and painful spinal taps, according to a Times of London report.
The test was designed by neurological scientists from Sweden’s University of Gothenburg to find the residue of a protein known as phosphorylated Tau 217 (pTau 217), which is commonly associated with the disease.
The test can detect signs of the disease up to 15 years in advance of full-on symptoms, according to the study.
The testing procedure — called an assay — was created by the company ALZpath, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“ALZpath’s pTau217 test can help healthcare providers determine the presence of amyloid plaques in the brain — a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Andreas Jeromin, the chief scientific officer of ALZpath.
The research noted that three independent clinical studies of 786 patients showed that ALZpath delivers “high diagnostic accuracy” in the identification of AD-inducing proteins within the brain, such as amyloid plaques.
The company announced that its latest breakthrough will be available for clinical use by the end of January and will also become commercially available at some point as well. CNN reported the price for the test would be between $200 and $500.
“What was impressive with these results is that the blood test was just as accurate as advanced testing like cerebrospinal fluid tests and brain scans at showing Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the brain,” lead author Nicholas Ashton told CNN.
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