3 days ago
First FDA-approved blood test helps early detection of Alzheimer's
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – A simple blood draw has now become a powerful tool in the early fight against Alzheimer's.
The FDA has approved the first blood test to help detect signs of Alzheimer's disease. It's called the Lumipulse test, and it looks for key proteins in the blood that are linked to the disease's early stages.
'There are several blood tests out there. This is the first blood test that has FDA clearance. This test is a biomarker, and we're familiar with biomarkers in other respects. For example, diabetes. You know, there's a blood test to see if there's glucose in the blood or what the blood sugar level is like. So biomarkers help us to detect that something's going on in the body,' Florida Representative for the Alzheimer's Association Stefanie Wardlow said.
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Alzheimer's disease is a brain disorder known to slowly destroy memory and thinking have relied on brain scans or spinal taps for diagnosis, which can be costly and sometimes hard to access. This test could make early diagnosis more available to detection gives families more time to plan, start treatment, and even join clinical trials.
'My aunt in the sixties had her first blood draw when she was in first grade. Unfortunately, science hadn't been improved up until the early nineties.. I think that if this would have been offered or, you know, come up with in the sixties, seventies, eighties, it could have been a complete game changer,' PCC RC Substance Abuse Counselor Kathy Hobbs said.
The Alzheimer's association estimates that nearly 11 percent of adults 65 and over in Bay County have Alzheimer's. Some warning signs for the disease include short-term memory loss that disrupts daily life, confusion with time or place, difficulty completing familiar tasks, and more.
'You don't just want a blood test, right? That's just one piece of information. You want to still have cognitive testing done. You want the doctor to be able to rule out certain things. That's not your hormones,' Wardlow said.
To learn more about Alzheimer's, you can visit here.
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