Scientists say they are getting closer to a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease, which would be much cheaper and easier to perform than current brain scans to detect the disease. An accurate blood test would allow for widespread diagnosis of Alzheimer’s at the earliest stages of the illness, when treatments may be most effective in slowing progression of the illness.
Two new studies looked at tau, a protein that forms the telltale brain tangles of Alzheimer’s disease. The tau tangles (also called neurofibrillary tangles) spread slowly through the brain of the person with Alzheimer’s, contributing in shutting down memory and thinking skills as the disease progresses. Tau exists in a number of forms, some of them being associated more specifically with Alzheimer’s disease. A specific form of modified tau called p-tau217 is also found in high amounts…
