ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – More than six million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s today. Half a million more people will be diagnosed this year. But thousands of cases of Alzheimer’s disease go undiagnosed each year. That’s because the changes in the brain can begin at least 10 years or more before symptoms start. Now, researchers are working on new ways to detect this disease before you or anyone else knows you have it.
Retirement was a never-ending adventure for John and Lynn Struckhoff, as they traveled the country in their fifth wheel. The two have been on a journey together for five decades.
“We met when I was 16, she was 14, and we’ve been together ever since,” John happily tells Ivanhoe.
They were on the road when John started seeing his wife slowly change. After several cognitive tests, doctors believed it was Alzheimer’s.
John recalls, “I said, ‘Well, how do we know for sure?’ They said, ‘Well, the only way we really know is an autopsy and that’s not a practical thing right now.’”
John enrolled Lynn in a clinical trial that tests a person’s blood for changes in the brain. The test measures the amount of amyloid beta proteins called A-beta 42 and A-beta 40 in the blood. The less A-beta 42 in the blood, the more likely you are to have Alzheimer’s.
“The A-beta 42 is getting stuck in the plaque, so it’s not ending up in the spinal fluid or in the blood,” explains Washington University School of Medicine neurologist, Suzanne Schindler, MD, PhD.
When combined with genetic risk factors, the test is up to 93 percent accurate in identifying people at risk of Alzheimer’s disease. And the earlier diagnosis could lead to new treatments to stop the progression.
Dr. Schindler emphasizes, “That’s what we’re aiming for; that you’ll get these tests and then get treated before you ever get symptoms.”
That’s not an option for Lynn, but the test did give John peace of mind.
“She and I have been on a journey for 50 some odd years and for whatever reason, she’s going on her own journey and I can’t come along,” John expresses.
The only other ways to test for Alzheimer’s are very costly. PET scans are the gold standard, and cost up to $7,000 per scan and is usually not covered by insurance. A spinal tap costs one to two thousand dollars. The blood test costs about $1,200 per patient. The Washington University test is called PrecivityAD. It’s available for use by doctors, but the test is not yet covered by most health insurance.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer & Editor.
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Source:
https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/facts-figures
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: BLOOD TEST FOR ALZHEIMER’S: PRECIVITYAD
REPORT: MB #5236
BACKGROUND: Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. While there is no cure yet, experts at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are diligently working to learn more about the disease and develop ways to treat, prevent, and ultimately stop a disease that affects more than 5.5 million Americans. Alzheimer’s is progressive, with dementia symptoms gradually worsen over several of years. Knowing the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s is key to early detection and diagnosis, which in turn can lead to expanding treatment and intervention options.
SYMPTOMS: Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills. There are 10 warning signs and symptoms. If you notice any of them, don’t ignore them. First, memory loss that disrupts daily life. Second, challenges in planning or solving problems. Third, difficulty completing familiar tasks. Fourth, confusion with time or place. Fifth, trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. Sixth, new problems with words in speaking or writing. Seventh, misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. Eighth, decreased or poor judgement. Ninth, withdrawal from work or social activities. And tenth, changes in mood and personality.
(Source: https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/10_signs)
NEW TECHNOLOGY: An NIH-funded research team led by Valerie Daggett at the University of Washington developed a method to detect toxic amyloid beta oligomers in patients’ blood. They tested the assay, called the soluble oligomer binding assay (SOBA), on nearly 400 banked human blood plasma samples. When the team applied SOBA using AP193 to a cerebrospinal fluid sample from a person with Alzheimer’s disease, they detected amyloid beta oligomers. They did not detect oligomers in cerebrospinal fluid from a person who had no cognitive impairment. SOBA distinguished Alzheimer’s disease from other forms of cognitive impairment. The team designed SOBA to detect only oligomers of amyloid beta and not of other proteins. Consistent with this, samples from people with other forms of cognitive impairment tested negative. These results suggest that SOBA could detect toxic oligomers in the blood even before cognitive impairment occurs. It could thus form the basis for early diagnostic tests of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
(Source: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/blood-test-early-alzheimer-s-detection)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Judy Martin Finch Diane Duke Williams
martinju@wustl.edu williamsdia@wustl.edu
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com
