Alzheimer’s blood test is on sale



[ad_1]

A medical breakthrough without COVID: people over 60 now have access to a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease.

Why is this important: The existing PET brain scan test costs some people around $ 5,000 and is often not covered by insurance, reports AP.

  • The blood test and brain scan look for a buildup of a protein called beta-amyloid, which, combined with symptoms such as memory loss, can lead to a diagnosis of dementia.
  • The test has not received FDA approval and is sold under commercial lab guidelines.

The big picture: About 5.5 million Americans could suffer from dementia induced by Alzheimer’s disease, according to NIH reports.

  • Previous diagnoses cannot stop the disease, notes the NIH, but treatments can extend the time before people lose the ability to function on their own.

Between the lines: C2N Diagnostics of St. Louis, which sells the test and seeks FDA approval, has not released any data on the accuracy of the test, AP notes.

  • The company’s promotional materials cite results comparing the test to PET brain scanners.
  • If a PET scan showed an accumulation of amyloid, the blood test also gave a high probability in 92% of cases and missed 8%.
  • If the PET scan was negative, the blood test excluded amyloid accumulation 77% of the time. The remaining 23% tested positive. Published research suggests that it can detect amyloid buildup before it’s evident on scans.

The other side: Heather Snyder of the Alzheimer’s Association told the AP that the organization would not approve a test without FDA approval.

The bottom line: “It’s not a cure, it’s not a treatment, but you can’t treat the disease without being able to diagnose it,” Alzheimer’s researcher Dr. Michael Weiner said, to the NY Times when the research was first published.

  • “And accurate, inexpensive diagnosis is really exciting, so it’s a breakthrough.”

[ad_2]

Source link