Looking into the Crystal Ball: New Blood Test for Pre-Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
Recently, some pretty exciting advances in blood testing have made the news. Just a short while ago a blood test for pre-diagnosing cancer was announced. Now, there is new hope for Alzheimer’s patients as well.
Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida are developing a blood test that detects antibodies in the blood of Alzheimer’s patients. Currently a blood test exists that tells if a person is
at risk but this test could definitively detect Alzheimer’s before the symptoms occur. For years scientists have searched for a way to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms indicate something is wrong.
The research is still in its infancy but using antibodies for diagnosis would be a simpler and less invasive method. Usually when blood tests are developed to detect diseases, researchers search for antigens, which are proteins from a bacteria, virus, or other disease process that elicit an immune response. Only when the antigen is identified can the search for the antibodies begin.
The problem is that antigens are so hard to find. According to Dr. Thomas Kodadek, professor of chemistry and cancer biology, “In Alzheimer’s, or in a disease such as cancer, it’s not at all obvious...
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