The Alzheimer's Association (USA) working group is preparing proposals for new criteria for defining Alzheimer's disease, which could be finalized by the end of the year.
As Ukrinform reports with reference to The New York Times, it is proposed to diagnose the disease not by the patient’s symptoms and behavior (primarily weakened mental activity), but by purely biological indicators – by the presence of certain substances in the body that accompany or cause the disease.
We are talking primarily about a blood test to detect amyloid. Such tests are already available in some clinics in the United States.
“Anyone with biomarkers indicating the presence of amyloid in the brain has the disease, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not.” ; noted the head of the working group and Alzheimer's disease researcher Dr. Clifford Jack from the Mayo Clinic. – The pathology is present many years before symptoms appear. This is science. This is irrefutable.”
At the same time, he emphasized that people who do not have symptoms of mental decline should not be tested. Aducanumab and lecanemab, which remove amyloid from the brain, have already received regulatory approval.
Studies have shown that these drugs have a modest but sufficient ability to slow the progression of symptoms over eighteen months in people with mild cognitive impairment or mild form of Alzheimer's disease.
Studies have found that in people over 65 years of age with high levels of amyloid, the estimated lifetime risk of developing dementia reaches 74% for women and 62% for women. for men.
At the same time, some researchers are skeptical about the proposals, believing that not only amyloid causes Alzheimer's disease. At the same time, the Alzheimer's Association is accused of being connected to the pharmaceutical industry.
Recall that earlier studies have shown that a blood test can reveal which organs have accelerated aging, which may make it possible to treat people before they get sick.