New blood test could detect Alzheimer's '10 years' before symptoms show up

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A simple blood test could spot Alzheimer's a decade before a person starts to display symptoms, scientists have discovered.Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, found that a type of protein called GFAP could be used as a possible blood-marker for the 'very early' signs of the illness - meaning that it could be identified during a quick blood test.

It often takes years for Alzheimer's symptoms such as memory loss to show up after a person develops the disease. However, diagnosing it earlier on may help slow down the illness with drugs and other medication.

The discovery of GFAP as a potential blood-marker could allow experts to prompt an early immune response.At the moment, Alzheimer disease causes 60 to 70 percent of all dementia cases, according to the Swedish Brain Foundation.Around 20 to 25 years before a person starts to experience symptoms like memory loss, the person's brain begins to change.

The earlier they're diagnosed, the faster they can access treatment. Proteins beta-amyloid and tau begin to form abnormally, causing the nerves in the brain to degenerate.