{"id":413128,"date":"2025-09-10T12:33:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T12:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/413128\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T12:33:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T12:33:14","slug":"this-simple-blood-test-could-revolutionise-alzheimers-diagnosis-say-uk-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/413128\/","title":{"rendered":"This simple blood test could revolutionise Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis, say UK researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Published on
\n 10\/09\/2025 – 13:52 GMT+2\n <\/p>\n

\"\"
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n

A landmark trial has begun testing whether a simple blood test could replace invasive and expensive procedures in diagnosing Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/strong><\/a> – a condition that affects millions worldwide.<\/p>\n

Led by researchers at University College London in the United Kingdom, the trial has started recruiting patients through memory clinics across the country. <\/p>\n

It will test whether measuring levels of the protein p-tau217 in the blood can provide an early and reliable diagnosis of Alzheimer\u2019s, helping patients and doctors make faster, better-informed decisions about care.<\/p>\n

Currently, confirming a diagnosis of Alzheimer\u2019s usually relies on brain scans or lumbar punctures, which are both expensive and difficult to access. <\/p>\n

And according to Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK<\/strong><\/a>, just 2 per cent of people diagnosed with the disease currently receive one of these \u201cgold standard\u201d tests.<\/p>\n

“Revolutionising the way we diagnose dementia”<\/p>\n

“After decades of research, we now have a blood test for Alzheimer\u2019s disease that is backed by strong scientific evidence and provides comparable information to other gold-standard diagnostic tests such as PET scans and lumbar punctures yet is far more accessible, and cheaper,” said professor Jonathan Schott, Chief Medical Officer at Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK and co-lead of the trial.<\/p>\n

The trial will involve 1,100 participants across 20 NHS centres. Half will receive their blood test results within three months, while the other half will receive them after a year. Researchers will then measure whether early access to results speeds up diagnosis, changes clinical decision-making or affects the quality of life of the patients.<\/p>\n

For many families, the prospect of a quicker route to diagnosis offers hope. Michael White, who cares for his wife Kathryn, said their journey to diagnosis took two and a half years. “A blood test like this would have helped to make a diagnosis right at the start and would have made a real difference to us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The study is part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge, a multi-million-pound programme supported by Alzheimer\u2019s Society, Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK and players of People\u2019s Postcode Lottery. <\/p>\n

If the trial is successful, it could pave the way for blood tests to become a standard part of dementia care on the NHS.<\/p>\n

According to Alzheimer\u2019s Disease International<\/strong><\/a>, there are over 10 million new cases of dementia every year, which works out to one new case every 3.2 seconds. <\/p>\n

And in 2020, more than 55 million people were living with dementia globally, a figure expected to nearly double every 20 years, reaching 78 million by 2030 and 139 million by 2050.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 10\/09\/2025 – 13:52 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT A landmark trial has begun testing whether a simple blood test…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[231,748,425,393,4884,6520,141964,3912,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-413128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-alzheimers-disease","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-dementia","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-healthy-aging","15":"tag-medical-tests","16":"tag-medicine","17":"tag-northern-ireland","18":"tag-scotland","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115180024994886975","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}