Study suggests new guidelines for diagnosing Alzheimer's
Amsterdam, Netherlands: New criteria for detecting Alzheimer's disease created by physicians and researchers from around the world were presented at the International Alzheimer's Congress (AAIC) in Amsterdam.
In these criteria, the condition is diagnosed in the clinic using blood biomarkers, similar to how diabetes and cardiovascular disease are diagnosed.
According to current research, a blood test for this purpose has been created in recent years that produces extremely good findings. Charlotte Teunissen, a neurochemistry professor at Amsterdam UMC, was engaged in the development of the new recommendations and said, “A new generation of biomarkers is now available to detect Alzheimer's disease more and more effectively. We have already gained a lot of experience with this in our Alzheimer's centre, but in the long term the test can also be successfully implemented after a GP's referral.”
New research by Amsterdam UMC with Alzheimer Nederland shows that many people with cognitive symptoms want to know whether they are in the early stages of Alzheimer's. A diagnosis enables patients to take more control over the next phase of their lives. The desire to know whether or not you have Alzheimer's disease makes the use of blood biomarkers so relevant, it is also the gateway to treatment.
A blood test is also a relatively inexpensive method and can be used in many places. Previously, only specialised clinics could do a proper analysis, and thus offer a diagnosis, via a blood test. Swedish research, presented at the ADPD conference in March, has shown that biomarkers can be more reliable than the analysis of a primary care physician. In addition, the blood test is much less stressful for the patient than the current method. Currently, Alzheimer's is diagnosed through the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid, acquired through an invasive lumbar puncture, or via an expensive PET scan. It is believed that both of these methods will soon also be less necessary in the diagnose of Alzheimer's.
