- 5 updates
Scientists hail breakthrough in 'Alzheimer's blood test'
Scientists have developed a new blood test which could detect if a healthy person will develop Alzheimer's disease over the next three years. Changes in the blood may signify the early stages of the disease, researchers said in Nature Medicine.
Live updates
Would you want to know if Alzheimer's was likely?
Dr Doug Brown, the Alzheimer's Society director of research and development, said people "must be given a choice about whether they would want to know, and fully understand the implications" of a test that could predict the onset of the disease.
We asked users of the ITV News Facebook page whether they would want to know in advance if they were likely to develop Alzheimer's.
- Dawn Kinsley: "One of the worst diseases going. So I would want to know, then I can get together my 'care' plan, have some 'careless' good times while I still remember and can enjoy."
- Mechelle Thomson: "Only to prepare my family so they would know what to expect. A little education could go a long way."
- Michael King: "How depressing knowing that you're going to get it in advance and being able to do little about it. I'd rather not know."
Scientists develop blood test to detect dementia
Scientists have developed a new blood test that could detect whether a person will develop dementia within three years.
By looking at 10 specific blood molecules, researchers from America's Georgetown University were able to test whether people would go on to develop cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's Disease - with 90% accuracy.
ITV News spoke to Dr Alison Cook from the Alzheimer's Society:
The study monitored 525 healthy over-70s for five years. During the research, 28 participants went on to develop the conditions. 46 were diagnosed at the start of the study.
Advertisement
Dementia blood test could pose 'ethical' challenges
A blood test that could predict the onset of Alzheimer's poses ethical challenges, an expert from the Alzheimer's Society has said.
A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine found that changes in the blood may predict whether someone will develop Alzheimer's.
"Having such a test would be an interesting development, but it also throws up ethical considerations," Dr Doug Brown, the charity's director of research and development, said.
"If this does develop in the future people must be given a choice about whether they would want to know, and fully understand the implications.
Dr Brown said there needed to be larger studies with different populations before it could be turned into a blood test for Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's blood test will help 'manage the disorder'
A breakthrough in the quest to find a blood test for Alzheimer's will help doctors and patients "manage the disease", one of the researchers has said.
Professor Howard Federoff explained:
Blood test breakthrough in Alzheimer's diagnosis
Scientists have developed a new blood test which could be used to detect early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and whether a healthy person will develop the disease within the next three years.
Scientists believe changes in the blood are an indicator of the degenerative disease in its earliest stages.
A new study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, identified 10 molecules in blood could be used to predict with at least 90% accuracy whether people will go on to develop mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Centre in the US examined 525 healthy participants aged 70 and over and monitored them for five years.
During the research 28 participants went on to develop the conditions and 46 were diagnosed at the start of the study.