Simple Blood Test May Have Power to Predict Dementia Risk | WPN World People News

A blood test has been developed that can predict with 90 percent certainty whether a senior will suffer from dementia within the next few years, researchers report.

The test relies on levels of 10 lipids, or fats, in the bloodstream to estimate the chances of either mild cognitive impairment -- which involves memory loss and a decline in thinking ability -- or the beginnings of Alzheimer's disease.

Low levels of these 10 blood fats can predict impending dementia symptoms with remarkable accuracy, said expert.

Such a blood test could prove easier to administer than current tests used to detect early onset of the disease.

Blood-based biomarkers would be a great and useful option -- more accessible, less invasive, easier to gather and less expensive to process. Several are under development for preclinical Alzheimer's disease. More research investment in this area is urgently needed.

The new study involved 525 healthy people aged 70 or older who underwent a full blood exam and a battery of neurocognitive tests.

The research team then followed the participants for five years. During the course of the study, 74 of the people slipped into dementia or mild Alzheimer's disease.

Doctors compared their blood to the blood of people who remained mentally sharp, looking for differences. They found that people who later developed dementia started out with low levels of a series of 10 lipids, compared to the other study participants.

They then performed a second study in which they tested the predictive power of the 10-lipid review on a separate group of 40 people. The blood test would be able to identify people who would develop mild cognitive impairment.

The accuracy of the blood test neither improved nor diminished when researchers added a genetic test looking for a mutant version of the "APOE" gene that has been linked to Alzheimer's.

In fact, they found the blood test predicted dementia with better accuracy than the APOE test alone.

Accurate tests that can determine who will eventually develop Alzheimer's could play a key role in finding a cure for the disease.

With no effective treatments yet available for Alzheimer's disease, the usefulness of an early warning test for older people remains uncertain. However, expert believes that existing drugs may still have promise in treating people at risk for Alzheimer's who have not yet developed the illness.

The results, while intriguing, are preliminary. They require replication and validation by other scientists in larger and more diverse populations to give them credibility, before further development for clinical use is warranted.

Source: HealthDay News