A new blood test may identify those at risk of Alzheimer's disease up to six years before symptoms, reported five newspapers (15 October 2007). The articles are based on a laboratory study assessing the diagnostic capability of protein biomarkers in the blood. It will be several years before a viable test is available.
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Five newspapers (1-5) reported on 15 October 2007 that a blood test has been developed that can identify those at risk of Alzheimer's disease up to six years before symptoms appear. All the newspaper reports also stated that the test is believed to be 90% accurate.
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The newspaper articles are based on a laboratory study led by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and published in Nature Medicine (6). In the study, 120 proteins that cells use to communicate with each other were examined in blood samples from people with and without Alzheimer's disease. The researchers then focussed on 18 of these 'signalling' proteins, and looked at levels in a test set of blinded blood samples from individuals with and without Alzheimer's disease. The study found that the proteins correctly identified those with Alzheimer's disease in 90% of the blood samples, and without the disease in 88%.
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The newspapers were generally accurate in their brief reports of the study findings. These findings are preliminary and will need to be confirmed by further studies. Two newspapers (2, 4) correctly stated that it could be several years before a blood test is developed that can be used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease in clinical practice.
Systematic reviews
Information staff at CRD searched for systematic reviews relevant to this topic. Systematic reviews are valuable sources of evidence as they locate, appraise and synthesize all available evidence on a particular topic.
There were no related systematic review identified on the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) or on the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE).
References and resources
1. Test that tells if you are going to get Alzheimer's. Daily Mirror, 15 October 2007, p28.
2. The blood test that predicts if you will develop Alzheimer's. Daily Mail, 15 October 2007, p8.
3. Blood test may give Alzheimer's warning. Daily Telegraph, 15 October 2007, p.
4. Early blood test for Alzheimer's found. The Independent, 15 October 2007, p19.
5. Blood test for Alzheimer's. Daily Express, 15 October 2007, p26.
6. Ray S, Britschgi M, Herbert C, Takeda-Uchimura Y, Boxer A, Blennow K, Friedman LF, Galasko DR, Jutel M, Karydas A, Kaye JA, Leszek J, Miller BL, Minthon L, Quinn JF, Rabinovici GD, Robinson WH, Sabbagh MN, So YT, Sparks DL, Tabaton M, Tinklenberg J, Yesavage JA, Tibshirani R, Wyss-Coray T. Classification and prediction of clinical Alzheimer's diagnosis based on plasma signaling proteins. Nature Medicine Letter published online: 14 October 2007. doi:10.1038/nm1653.
Consumer information
Alzheimer's Society
NHS Direct - Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's Research Trust
Previous Hitting the Headlines summaries on this topic
'The one-minute Alzheimer's test'. Hitting the Headlines archive, 23 August 2007.
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