Alzheimer’s: Thousands to trial blood tests for dementia

Thousands of people are to be offered a blood test for dementia as part of a trial run by memory clinics across the UK.

The hope is that more people will be able to access care, support and new drug treatments at an earlier stage.

The research, by University College London and the University of Oxford, will involve around 5,000 volunteers.

The five-year project will study blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Currently, around a third of patients with dementia never get a formal diagnosis and are left with worry and uncertainty about their condition.

Rogue proteins

Only around 2% of patients have one of the ‘gold standard’ tests for Alzheimer’s – either a specialist PET brain scan or a spinal lumbar puncture.

Both can show the presence of rogue proteins in the brain such as amyloid and tau which start to accumulate up to 20 years before symptoms emerge – but tests are expensive.

The Oxford team will be looking at a range of blood tests, which could be a cheaper and easier way for doctors to spot early signs of the disease.

One blood test will look for traces of these proteins in the blood in order to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Some tests will also look for potential biomarkers for vascular and frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies.

The researchers will also look at whether the blood tests can help detect these diseases at various stages.