A new blood test may reveal: Dementia risk for women It can take up to 25 years before symptoms appear.
That’s according to a new study from the University of California, San Diego, which found that certain biomarker proteins associated with the early pathological process of Alzheimer’s disease are “strongly associated” with future risk of dementia.
Researchers analyzed blood samples from 2,766 people who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative’s Memory Study in the late 1990s, according to the study’s press release.
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The woman was between 65 and 79 years old and had no symptoms. Decline in cognitive function At the beginning of your studies.
After following participants for up to 25 years, researchers concluded that the biomarker phosphorylated tau-217 (p-tau217) was “strongly associated” with future mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
Women who had higher levels of p-tau217 at the start of the study were “much more likely” to develop the disease. The findings were published today in JAMA Network Open.
“Importantly, our study suggests that it may be possible to detect dementia risk 20 years in advance using a simple blood test.” older woman” lead author Aladdin H. Shadiab, Ph.D., associate professor of public health medicine at the University of California, San Diego, told FOX News Digital.
“Our findings show that the blood biomarker p-tau217 may help identify individuals at high risk of dementia long before symptoms begin,” he added.
This long lead time could open the door to early realization prevention strategy Rather than waiting until memory problems are already affecting daily life, more targeted monitoring is needed, Shadiv said.
“As research progresses, these biomarkers may help identify who is most at risk and develop strategies to slow or prevent dementia,” he said.
However, this risk relationship was not the same across the board. Women over 70 years of age with high levels of p-tau217 had “poorer cognitive outcomes” than women under 70 years of age, as did women with the APOEε4 gene, a known risk factor for infectious diseases. alzheimer’s disease.
The study also found that p-tau217 was a stronger predictor of dementia in women randomly assigned to receive estrogen and progestin hormone therapy compared with those who received a placebo.
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“Blood-based biomarkers like p-tau217 are particularly promising because they are much less invasive and may be more accessible than brain imaging or cerebrospinal fluid testing,” lead author Linda K. McEvoy, Ph.D., senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute and professor emeritus at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, said in the release.
“This is important Accelerating research Analyze factors that influence dementia risk and evaluate potential strategies to reduce risk. ”
Blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease are still being studied and are not recommended for routine screening in people without symptoms, Shadyab noted.
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Further research is needed before this approach can be considered for clinical use before cognitive symptoms.
Future research should investigate how other factors such as genetics, hormonal therapy, and age-related factors play a role. medical condition — may interact with plasma p-tau217, the researchers added.
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“This study only looked at older women, so the results may not necessarily apply to men or younger generations,” Shadyab noted. “We also looked at overall dementia outcomes, rather than specific subtypes such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
