How Blood Testing Can Change the Future of Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention
Alzheimer’s Disease prevention, identification, and chronic disease management may be turning a corner as new blood diagnostic tests become available.
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- Alzheimer’s Disease prevention and identification may become more achievable with emerging solutions, according to Michael Racke, MD, Medical Director of Neurology at Quest Diagnostics.
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On a recent Healthcare Strategies episode, Racke shared about a new test called AD Detect which uses a blood sample to identify the presence of Alzheimer’s Disease early in the disease’s progress.
To determine the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, the test assesses the signs that beta-amyloid deposits may start building up in the brain.
Unlike another test—the Lumipulse test which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for marketing in May 2022—the AD Detect test is not performed on spinal fluid. Instead, AD Detect looks for A beta 1-42 as biomarkers in a blood sample. Alzheimer’s Disease produces a unique ratio of A beta 1-42.
Racke also shared his plans for how to educate providers about the tool. The strategy includes conducting webinars tailored to certain provider types. For example, Quest Diagnostics held one webinar about the test that was geared towards primary care providers and another that targeted neurologists.
However, before educating providers about using the tool for treatment, Racke said the company is looking to inform providers about opportunities for patients to enter into clinical trials.
“It's going to make it more accessible for people to have this sort of evaluation and eventually —as we really have good treatments for Alzheimer's disease and potentially at some point other dementias as well—we will be able to use these blood biomarkers to differentiate and identify what kind of treatment people would be able to receive,” Racke projected.
Racke said that using blood diagnostic tests could change clinical trials for Alzheimer’s Disease as well as change chronic disease management for Alzheimer’s.
If he is right, the potential impact is significant, for patients as well as for the healthcare system as a whole. Racke pointed to the tremendous cost of care for Alzheimer’s patients. Alzheimer’s disease is one of the top ten most expensive chronic conditions in the US.
“If you were able to push back when people got Alzheimer's disease and really reduce the time that they were impaired cognitively, they would save dramatically on the back end in terms of the care for these people,” Racke explained.
While progress has been made and potential treatments are surfacing, cures remain elusive. Meanwhile, the demand for solutions continues to grow as early-onset dementia rates escalate.
