Several previous studies have shown that a simple blood test can detect Alzheimer's long before the disease breaks out.
Now a research group at Lund University has developed an algorithm, a diagnostic tool, where the blood sample is weighed together with memory tests.
- Only the blood test is based on an 80 percent accuracy, but if we add these simple tests of memory and cognitive function, we get up to over 90 percent accuracy on who develops Alzheimer's dementia within about 4 years, says Oskar Hansson, professor of neurology who leads the study now published in Nature Medicine.
Difficult to diagnose
Simpler tests can give more people the correct diagnosis.
- In Sweden, more than 100,000 are affected and it is a disease that is difficult to diagnose.
If you look at specialist clinics without advanced test possibilities, today it is a misdiagnosis of 20-30 percent and even more difficult in primary care, says Sebastian Palmqvist, researcher and chief physician at the memory clinic in the Skåne region.
The study examined 340 people with mild memory difficulties and the results were confirmed in a North American study with 543 people.
The diagnostic reliability has so far only been evaluated at memory clinics, but it is now being tested at 15-20 health centers.