The Food and Drug Administration of the United States (FDA) has an lit blood test that can help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. This is the first blood test to be eliminated by the FDA for the disease, which affects more than 7 million older Americans and is marked by a drop in memory and reflection skills.
The test, called lumipulse, can detect abnormal tufts of protein in the brain, called amyloid plates. These plates disturb the function of brain cells and are a characteristic of Alzheimer’s.
TEP analyzes and vertebral liquid tests can also detect amyloid plates and have been used for years to help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. But the tests are expensive and, in the case of the lumbar puncture, invasive. They can also be inaccessible for residents of rural areas. Light, on the other hand, requires only a blood sample in patients 55 and over who have signs and symptoms of the disease.
“Having a blood test facilitates the possibility of making a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Charles Bernick, MD, a neurologist of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, based in Las Vegas.
In its press release, the test manufacturer, Fujirebio Diagnostics, did not specify the cost of the test.
People without symptoms should not test
The newly approved blood test measures two proteins in the liquid part of the blood, known as plasma, then calculates the ratio of these proteins, which is “correlated with the presence or absence of amyloid plates in the patient’s brain, reducing the need for a PET,” said the FDA.
The test is only intended for the elderly who have symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease; It is not a screening test. In addition, the FDA said, the results should be used with “other clinical assessments or additional tests” to determine the processing options. In addition to brain imaging and lumbar perforations, doctors often use neurological exams and cognitive tests, for example, to diagnose a patient with Alzheimer’s disease. “It always becomes a diagnosis where you really have to look at the whole image,” said Bernick.
In recent years, the FDA has approved two drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer – Kisunla (Donanemab) and Leqembi (Lecanemab). These drugs, which are given by infusion, do not heal the disease but can help slow the decline of people in its early days. Because they work by eliminating the amyloid plates of the brain, the presence of amyloid must be confirmed before they can be prescribed.
“They include risks. So if you are going to use or use them, you must be about sure that the person has this protein in the brain,” said Bernick. Risks may include swelling and bleeding in the brain.