Image for Blood test could detect Alzheimer’s more than 10 years earlier

Blood test could detect Alzheimer’s more than 10 years earlier

An international team has discovered that a blood protein can help precisely monitor the progression of Alzheimer's disease years before obvious signs

An international team has discovered that a blood protein can help precisely monitor the progression of Alzheimer's disease years before obvious signs

Years before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease manifest, the brain starts changing and neurons are slowly degraded.

Now, scientists from the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases, the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research and the University Hospital Tübingen have published a study that suggests a protein found in the blood can be used to precisely monitor disease progression long before the first clinical signs. It offers new possibilities for testing therapies, they say.

“We were able to predict loss of brain mass and cognitive changes that actually occurred two years later,” said Mathias Jucker, senior researcher.