news
Hope to our shores
New Alzheimer’s test on
its way to Australia.
By Conor Burke
A
new blood test that could help
identify Alzheimer’s disease is
headed for Australia.
Dementia is the second leading cause of
death in Australia, and there are currently
459,000 Australians living with dementia.
That number is expected to reach 590,000
by 2028 and over a million by 2058.
A new study in Lancet Neurology shows
that the test accurately measures one of
the proteins – P-tau181 – implicated in
Alzheimer’s disease. The protein is one of the
markers of the disease along with the plaque
caused by the protein amyloid .
Until now, discovering these proteins
could only be done through expensive PET
scans, invasive lumbar punctures, or autopsy.
The test is being introduced to Australia
by the Australian Dementia Network, which
is supported by the University of Melbourne,
and in the coming weeks researchers from
the Australian Dementia Network and the
AIBL study of ageing will be sending blood
samples from Australian participants to
Sweden as part of further analysis of the
accuracy of the new test.
“We are working with the Swedish team
to introduce the blood test to several sites
around Australia with the aim of making
it available to the Australian community
as soon as possible,” said the University of
Melbourne’s Professor Christopher Rowe,
director of the Australian Dementia Network.
“This will be initially through the Australian
Dementia Network’s affiliated memory
clinics to collect the information on
accuracy and impact on patient care that is
needed to obtain approval for widespread
use in the Australian community.”
The cost of dementia in Australia is
enormous. Almost 1.6 million people in
Australia are currently involved in the care of
someone living with dementia. It is estimated
to cost Australia more than $15 billion, and
52 per cent of all aged care residents have
been diagnosed with dementia.
A successful diagnostic tool would help
doctors to diagnose dementia with more
certainty and would help provide people
with early treatment options.
The blood test was developed at the
University of Gothenburg, and according to
the authors the blood test showed a very
good capacity to distinguish Alzheimer’s
from other brain diseases, such as
frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson’s
disease, where the blood level of P-tau181
was entirely normal.
“In the future, one very important use
of our blood test will be for screening in
primary care. We demonstrated this in one
of the studies forming part of our article, in
which we looked at patients in primary care
with concerns about their failing memory,”
co-author Professor Kal Blennow said.
Colleague Professor Henrik Zetterberg
said: “We also think the level of P-tau181
in blood plasma may be a very important
marker to show and monitor the efficacy of
the new drugs against Alzheimer’s that are
currently being developed.” ■
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