Research into a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease

Published 13 July 2007

A non-invasive blood test for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease would be of enormous significance, helping clinicians to effectively identify the disease.

'Early diagnosis allows people with dementia and their carers to start preparing for the future.
The researchers based at the Institute of Psychiatry started out by comparing proteins found in the blood of people with Alzheimer's disease and a control group. A sweep of the samples was used to identify proteins, which appeared to be associated with Alzheimer's disease. Work funded by the Alzheimer's Society is now underway to see whether these proteins can be linked to changes in the brain.
The key value to this latest study could be in whether it uncovers a method for identifying key proteins, linked to different stages of Alzheimer's disease. Dr Madhav Thambisetty's research funding is through the Alzheimer's Society Quality Research in Dementia programme. This is guided by an advisory panel, which includes people with dementia and their carers.'