Three things are important when reporting on scientific breakthroughs:
Beware offering false hope. Remember that real leaps take years, maybe decades, to filter into our everyday lives. Even the greatest scientific advances usually end with the caveat: requires further research.All three are true of today’s story on the new blood test for Alzheimer’s.
Nevertheless, it is a major development. The test appears to be “very accurate”, according to the UK Alzheimer’s Society. It’s already approved for use in the US, where the rules say it must only be given to people who are over 55 and experiencing cognitive decline.
In Britain, a nationwide clinical trial is under way to revolutionise how dementia is diagnosed.
This matters so much because an early diagnosis often prompts someone to seek help. Rapid treatment can then protect our quality of life for longer.
Differentiating between types of dementia – Alzheimer’s or vascular dementia, for example – is vital because new, tailored drugs are becoming available which can slow cognitive decline.
The blood tests are affordable, quick and non-invasive.
There remain ethical questions, including the psychological impact on people who learn they are at high risk of a disease which still has no cure.
But 119 years after Alois Alzheimer first described the brain disease that still bears his name, humanity is – finally – beginning to understand its mysteries.
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