An Inexpensive Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease Can Now Be Obtained Through Blood Testing

In 1906, Alzheimer's disease was first recognized as a distinct medical condition. In the 100 years that have passed since then, researchers have made remarkable progress toward understanding how Alzheimer's disease affects the brain and learning how to improve the quality of life for those afflicted with the disease as well as their families.

The German physician Alois Alzheimer, a pioneer in linking symptoms to microscopic brain changes, recounts the eerie case of Auguste D., a patient who suffered from severe memory loss, unfounded suspicions about other people, and other troubling symptoms.

Her family, and other worsening psychological changes. Auguste D. was a patient who had Alzheimer's disease. During the autopsy, he observed significant shrinkage in her brain and abnormal deposits in and around the nerve cells.

Dr. Alzheimer passed away in 1915, and he was never aware that his chance meeting with Auguste D. would one day affect the lives of millions of people around the world and spark a massive international research effort. Not only is Dr. Alzheimer revered in the scientific community for his ground-breaking characterization of a major disease, but he is also looked up to as a model. By establishing a close clinical relationship with his patients and utilizing new scientific tools to determine how symptoms related to physical brain changes, he established a new standard for the understanding of neurodegenerative disorders. This helped him set a new standard.

Alzheimer's disease was given its name in 1910

In the eighth edition of his book Psychiatrie, the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin, who had worked with Dr. Alzheimer, first names the condition that would later be known as Alzheimer's Disease. In an editorial that was recently published in the Archives of Neurology, neurologist Robert Katzman identifies Alzheimer's disease as the most prevalent cause of dementia as well as a significant challenge to the public's health.

1976 The most prevalent type of dementia is known to be Alzheimer's disease

In an editorial that was recently published in the Archives of Neurology, neurologist Robert Katzman identifies Alzheimer's disease as the most prevalent cause of dementia as well as a significant challenge to the public's health.

In 1979, Jerome H. Stone and representatives from several family support groups attended a meeting with the National Institute on Aging to discuss the potential value of a national, independent, nonprofit organization to supplement and stimulate efforts made by the federal government in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. This meeting took place at the National Institute on Aging.

1980 marked the beginning of the Alzheimer's Association

Following the conclusion of that meeting in 1980, the Alzheimer's Association was established with Mr. Stone serving as its founding president. The Alzheimer's Association has emerged as the preeminent non-profit health organization in the fields of Alzheimer's care, support, and research in recent years.

The month of November was designated as National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month in 1983:

As more people became aware of Alzheimer's disease, the United States Congress chose November 1983 to be the first month to be designated as National Alzheimer's Disease Month.

Beta-amyloid was first discovered in 1984

Researchers George Glenner and Cai'ne Wong report the discovery of "a novel cerebrovascular amyloid protein," which can be found in the brain, referred to as beta-amyloid, this protein is the primary component of the brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease and a prime suspect in the initiation of nerve cell damage.

1984 Establishment of a nationwide infrastructure for Alzheimer's disease research

Establishing a nationwide infrastructure for research, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) begins funding its network of Alzheimer's Disease Centers at flagship medical institutions.

Alzheimer's drug trial begins in 1987

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) and Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company (now Pfizer) are conducting clinical trials of tacrine, which is the first drug to specifically target symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

In 1987, scientists discovered the first gene that could be held responsible for developing Alzheimer's

Researchers have identified the first gene that is linked to inherited forms of Alzheimer's disease that are extremely rare. Amyloid precursor protein, also known as APP, is the parent molecule from which beta-amyloid is formed. The gene that codes for APP is located on chromosome 21. In addition, individuals with Down syndrome have three copies of chromosome 21 rather than the typical two copies of this chromosome. Alzheimer's disease strikes a significant number of people who have Down syndrome, often beginning in their 30s or 40s at an early age.

A federal consortium for clinical research that began its work in 1991

The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) is a nationwide medical network. The first gene associated with Alzheimer's disease was discovered in 1993. That was established by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to facilitate clinical research and to conduct clinical trials that are funded by the federal government.

The first gene associated with Alzheimer's disease was discovered in 1993

Researchers have identified APOE-e4, a form of the apolipoprotein-E (APOE) gene that is located on chromosome 19, as the first gene that raises the risk for Alzheimer's disease but does not determine whether or not a person who possesses the gene will develop the disease.

1993 The FDA approved its first treatment for Alzheimer's disease

The first drug that specifically targets the memory and thinking symptoms of Alzheimer's disease has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This drug is known as tacrine (Cognex). The next decade will see the approval of four additional pharmaceuticals.

1994 saw the announcement that President Reagan had been diagnosed

Ronald Reagan, who served as president of the United States from 1981 to 1989, informed the American people that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The former president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, wrote the following in an open letter to the people of the United States about his decision to disclose his diagnosis: "In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition." Perhaps a better understanding of the people and families whose lives are disrupted as a result of it will be fostered as a result of this.

2010 Researchers working on Alzheimer's disease band together to raise awareness and concern

The Alzheimer's Association and dozens of Alzheimer's disease researchers are teaming up for the "Alzheimer's Breakthrough Ride®," a cross-country bike relay that will take place over 66 days. The goal of this event is to bring public and Congressional attention to the critical need for increased federal funding to support the search for effective Alzheimer's disease treatments.

2010 saw the establishment of an Alzheimer's clinical trial database

The Alzheimer's Association and its partners in the Coalition Against Major Diseases (CAMD) have created a database of 4,000 patients who have taken part in 11 clinical trials of Alzheimer's treatments that were sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. The very first database of its kind is this one. The combined data, which can be accessed by any researcher who meets the requirements, will provide an unprecedented amount of power to understand how Alzheimer's disease progresses.

TrialMatch® was first introduced by the Alzheimer's Association in 2010

The Alzheimer's Association has announced the launch of TrialMatch®, a clinical studies matching service that is both free and simple to use. The goal of the service is to connect people living with Alzheimer's disease, their caregivers, and healthy volunteers with ongoing research studies. Building participants' awareness of research studies and increasing their participation were unanimously identified as key strategies for accelerating the development of treatments by stakeholders.

2011 President Obama gave his signature officially making the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) a law

The Innovative new legislation creates the first-ever framework for a national strategic plan to address the Alzheimer's crisis and to coordinate our response on multiple fronts, including research, care, and support. This is a significant step forward in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.

2019 will see continued support from Bill Gates for the Part Cloud Research Grant Program

With a donation of $10 million, Bill Gates became a participant in the Alzheimer's Association's Part the Cloud global research grant program. This award is expected to generate an additional $20 million in funding for the Alzheimer's Association.

2019 marks an all-time high in funding for Alzheimer's research

A law that increased funding for Alzheimer's and dementia research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $350 million brought the total annual funding to $2.8 billion. The law that increased funding was signed into effect. The BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act was also granted an additional 10 million dollars in funding after receiving approval.

Aducanumab will be approved for use as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease in the year 2021

The Food and Drug Administration of the United States has granted accelerated approval to aducanumab (brand name: AduhelmTM) as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease (FDA). This treatment is the first of its kind to target the underlying biology of Alzheimer's disease and has been approved by the FDA.

2022 This Blood Test Could Lead to an Affordable Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

When it comes to Alzheimer's disease, one of the most difficult challenges that patients must overcome is getting tested and receiving a definitive diagnosis for the condition. Tests of spinal fluid and brain imaging performed with MRI scanners, both tried and true methods, can be prohibitively expensive.

A significant number of localities all over the world do not even have access to these kinds of tools. This makes accessibility a nightmare for people who might have Alzheimer's disease, and it also has the effect of having a disproportionately negative impact on people of color.

Because of this, researchers have spent a significant amount of time looking for alternative methods to diagnose neurodegenerative disease. Blood tests are one of the methods, and they are a method that can be used to potentially reveal particular biomarkers that indicate Alzheimer's disease in a way that is both accessible and cost-effective.

However, the majority of these tests have, up until this point, been unreliable as diagnostic tools for the disease because of their inability to identify neurodegeneration biomarkers.

This, however, has changed thanks to recent research. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have developed a new diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease that uses a blood sample to detect neurodegeneration. The findings of this research were published on December 27 in the journal Brain.

The authors of the study assert that the new method performs better than other blood tests for Alzheimer's disease and has the potential to make the diagnosis of the disease more widely available while simultaneously reducing costs.

Thomas Karikari, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and the senior author of the study, stated in a statement that "at the present, diagnosing Alzheimer's disease requires neuroimaging."

Even in the United States, there are a significant number of patients who do not have access to MRI and PET scanners because the tests are prohibitively expensive and difficult to schedule. Accessibility is a very important concern.

Alzheimer's disease can be diagnosed by looking for three symptoms in a patient: amyloid plaques, tau tangles, and brain neurodegeneration. Amyloid plaques and tau tangles are abnormal proteins found in neurons, and brain neurodegeneration is when nerve cells lose their function and die.

Tests of the spinal fluid and imaging of the brain are typically used to locate all of these indicators. On the other hand, this creates a fairly significant barrier in terms of accessibility for both patients and physicians; consequently, blood tests might be a good alternative to consider.

On the other hand, the most common blood diagnostics have a lot of room for improvement because they can only detect a small subset of the biomarkers (namely amyloid plaque and tau tangles).

Because of this, the researchers at Pitt decided to concentrate their efforts on a biomarker known as "brain-derived tau" (BD-tau). This biomarker is not only detectable in blood tests, but it also has a strong correlation with Alzheimer's disease-related neurodegeneration in spinal fluid.

These findings have the potential to lead to increased accessibility, in particular for communities of color, which have a disproportionately low rate of Alzheimer's disease diagnoses.

According to Karikari, this highlights the "huge need for diversity in clinical research, not just by skin color but also by socioeconomic background" as well as the "urgent need" for diagnostic testing that is more easily accessible.

According to Karikari, "to develop better drugs, trials need to enroll people from a diverse range of backgrounds," and not just individuals who live close to academic medical centers.

A blood test is significantly less expensive, less risky, and easier to carry out. It can also improve clinical confidence in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and selecting participants for clinical trials and disease monitoring.

Resources:

• Find Clinical Trials for Alzheimer's and Other Dementia

• Aducanumab Approved for Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease