Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Syrian Rejal al-Karamah (Men of Dignity) movement: What happened was a dangerous escalation that threatens civil peace and undermines the trust that authorities have worked hard to establish.
Rejal al-Karamah (Men of Dignity) movement: We condemn in the strongest terms the brutal attack on the city of Sweida and Jabal al-Arab by the Damascus government.
Maduro: We reaffirm that Palestine has the right to exist, resist, and live freely in a fully sovereign state with East al-Quds as its capital.
Maduro: Every bomb dropped on a Palestinian hospital, school, or home not only kills innocent lives but also destroys the foundations of world peace.
Maduro: What we are witnessing today in Gaza and throughout Palestine is not a conflict between equal parties, but rather a systematic plan to destroy a people and eradicate their identity.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro at the Bogota summit: We raise our voices firmly outraged at the world's silence in the face of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians.
Syria: Sources to Al Mayadeen: Israeli airstrikes target supply lines of military factions affiliated with the Syrian Interim Ministry of Defense outside Sweida and around Daraa.
Al-Saadi: There were concerns that Lahham would be placed under administrative detention.
Al-Saadi: The Israeli occupation authorities could not prove any allegations leveled against Nasser Lahham.
Lawyer Oussama al-Saadi: The oppressive Israeli measures of delaying Lahham's release had vengeful motives.

Scientists develop new blood test for Alzheimer’s disease

  • By The Guardian
  • Source: News websites
  • 28 Dec 2022 15:21
3 Min Read

A new Alzheimer's blood test could enable faster diagnosis of the disease, which would lead to an earlier start for treatment.

  • x
  • Alzheimer's disease - neurons with amyloid plaques. (Photo: Juan Gaertner / Shutterstock)
    Alzheimer's disease - neurons with amyloid plaques. (Photo: Juan Gaertner / Shutterstock)

Scientists have developed a new blood test to detect Alzheimer’s disease without the need for expensive brain imaging or a painful lumbar puncture, where a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample is taken from the lower back. If the test is validated, it could enable faster diagnosis of the disease, which would lead to the initiation of therapies at an earlier stage.

Alzheimer's is a gradual condition that begins with modest memory loss and may proceed to loss of capacity to converse and respond to surroundings. However, diagnosis remains challenging, especially during the earlier stages of the disease.

Read: Positive results, risks reported in Alzheimer's new drug

Current guidelines recommend detecting the following distinct markers: unusual accumulations of amyloid and tau proteins, as well as neurodegeneration, which is a slow and progressive decline of neuronal cell number in particular regions of the brain. The detection is done through brain imaging and CSF analysis, but a lumbar puncture can be painful and can lead to headaches or back pain, while brain imaging is costly and takes a long time to schedule.

“A lot of patients, even in the US, don’t have access to MRI and PET scanners. Accessibility is a major issue," Prof Thomas Karikari at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, who took part in the study, said.

Related News

France discovers new ‘Gwada negative’ blood type in rare case

Blood test locates 'hard-to-detect' cancers earlier than expected

Developing a reliable blood test would be a significant step forward.

“A blood test is cheaper, safer and easier to administer, and it can improve clinical confidence in diagnosing Alzheimer’s and selecting participants for clinical trial and disease monitoring,” Karikari said.

The current blood tests can detect abnormalities in amyloid and tau proteins accurately, but the detection of nerve cell damage markers that are specific to the brain has been more difficult. Karikari and his colleagues worked on developing an antibody-based blood test that would detect an Alzheimer's disease-specific form of tau protein called brain-derived tau.

In the research published in the Brain journal, the scientists tested 600 patients at various stages of the disease and found that levels of the protein correlated well with those of tau in the CSF, and were able to reliably differentiate Alzheimer’s from other neurodegenerative diseases. Protein levels also closely corresponded with the severity of amyloid plaques and tau tangles in brain tissue from individuals who had died of Alzheimer’s.

The next required step to validate the test is to have a broader range of patients, such as varied racial and ethnic backgrounds, and people suffering from different memory loss stages or other potential dementia symptoms.

Karikari hoped that monitoring brain-derived tau levels in the blood could improve the design of clinical trials for Alzheimer’s treatments.

  • blood test
  • Alzheimer's Disease

Most Read

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025
An Israeli soldier abandons an excavator during an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades. Arabic text reads "The moment the soldier fled", July, 10, 2025 (Al Qassam Military Media)

Israeli media rue al-Qassam footage, alarmed by fighters among troops

  • Politics
  • 11 Jul 2025
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after an Iranian attack at the al Udeid Airbase outside of Doha, Qatar, June 25, 2025 (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Satellite images show Iran attack damaged US comms dome in Qatari base

  • Politics
  • 11 Jul 2025
Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

  • Analysis
  • 11 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Syrian government forces deploy at the Mazraa village on the outskirts of city of Sweida, where clashes erupted between Bedouin clans and Druze factions, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Gulf-backed negotiations underway in Syria's Sweida to end clashes

UN: 798 Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid in Gaza
Palestine

UN: 798 Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid in Gaza

A damaged car is seen at a field that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Sheet village, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, Wednesday, August 21, 2024 (AP)
Politics

Hezbollah condemns Israeli Bekaa massacre, urges action from Lebanon

Palestinians walk next to the closed humanitarian aid distribution center of UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli regime cuts electricity, water supplies to UNRWA Gaza offices

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS