07 September 2023 , 22:04
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A finger-prick blood test is being developed to detect Alzheimer’s disease in just seven minutes.
Scientists from the University of Exeter have used the simple way to spot proteins associated with a wide range of diseases from long Covid to Alzheimer’s and in less than 10 minutes. Professor Andrew Shaw, CEO of inventors Attomarker told the British Science Festival that there are “nine proteins that predict dementia” and that “the idea is that we can measure those and look at how they evolve over time”.
The company has been analysing the protein tau with its activity behaving differently for people who have Alzheimer’s disease. The device is also being tested for its ability to spot other conditions including long Covid and food allergies.
It is believed that Alzheimer’s could be detected by taking a finger-prick blood test with a scan costing just £10. Using a mobile phone, a light is shone onto the blood sample after chemicals are added to react with proteins and abnormalities can be discovered.
Prof Shaw is hopeful that the test which is currently carried out in laboratories could now be done simply and in just a question of minutes, he described it as being “like a laboratory in your hand”. He also said that Attomarker, which is a spinout from the University of Exeter is “revolutionising diagnostic technology and potential of big data”, reported the Financial Times.
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Meanwhile, having conditions such as high blood pressure, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol, may increase the risk of developing dementia later in life, new research also suggests.
People living with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions which also includes high levels of fat in the blood (triglycerides) and high blood sugar (glucose), are at 12% higher risk of developing dementia compared with those without the conditions, according to scientists at Oxford Population Health.
The research, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association also found that having all five components of metabolic syndrome increased the risk of dementia by 50%. The scientist said that treating metabolic syndrome by using medicines or making lifestyle changes could help reduce this risk.
Danial Qureshi, lead author and PhD candidate at Oxford Population Health, said: "Our study findings suggest that early identification and management of metabolic syndrome could potentially reduce risk of developing dementia later in life." He added: "Learning more about this link is crucial, especially given the rapid increase in dementia cases worldwide and the limited number of effective treatments currently available."
Those with poor metabolic health are already known to be at greater risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. It affects an estimated one in three adults aged 50 or over in the UK. For the study, the researchers looked at data from more than 176,000 people in the UK Biobank, an online database of medical and lifestyle records of half a million Britons, over a period of 15 years.
All those involved in the study were aged 60 or older and free of dementia at the start. Around 42% (73,510 people) had metabolic syndrome at the start of the study and the most common condition was high blood pressure (96%), followed by high triglycerides (74%), low "good" (LDL) cholesterol (72%), high waist circumference (70%), and high blood glucose (50%).
Over the course of the study, 5,255 went on to develop dementia. Findings showed having four or five conditions associated with metabolic syndrome increased the risk of dementia by 19% and 50% respectively. Dr Thomas Littlejohns, senior author and Senior Epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health, said: "There is growing evidence that better prevention, management and treatment of certain health conditions could reduce future risk of dementia.
"These findings suggest that it is also important to consider the role of multiple conditions, especially as we observed the greatest risk in those with all five components of metabolic syndrome."