Health
Alzheimer’s blood test detects disease with 90% accuracy in routine doctors’ appointments: study
A simple blood test has been shown to detect Alzheimer’s disease in routine health care settings with up to 90% accuracy, according to Swedish researchers.
The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia on Sunday.
The test works by measuring the levels of Plasma Phospho-Tau217, a biomarker that is linked to the presence of Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain.
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It has been shown to detect the disease even before the person begins experiencing symptoms, researchers say.
“The tested blood test can detect Alzheimer’s disease with high accuracy even in real-life settings in primary care,” said study author Oskar Hansson, M.D., head of the Clinical Memory Research Unit at Lund University, Sweden, in an email to Fox News Digital.
A simple blood test has been shown to detect Alzheimer’s disease in routine health care settings with up to 90% accuracy. (iStock)
It is currently difficult for primary care physicians to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease due to a lack of adequate tools, he said.
In the most recent study — also published in the journal JAMA — 1,213 people who were experiencing mild memory loss were evaluated by either primary care doctors or memory specialists.
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The patients then underwent both the blood test and cerebrospinal fluid tests, and researchers compared the results.
“Primary care doctors’ accuracy in identifying Alzheimer’s disease was 61%, while specialist physicians were correct 73% of the time,” study author Sebastian Palmqvist, associate professor of neurology at Lund University, stated in a press release.
By comparison, the blood test had an accuracy of 90%.
It is currently difficult for primary care physicians to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease because of a lack of adequate tools, according to researchers. (iStock)
“I was surprised by how well the blood test worked in real-life settings in primary care, where the patients are older and have more comorbidities like kidney disease, which can affect the blood test results,” Hansson told Fox News Digital.
The main limitation of the research was that it was only conducted in Sweden.
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“We need studies in the U.S. and other countries to better understand the generalizability of the findings,” Hansson said.
“I think it will take one or two years before there are clinical guidelines in place for use of blood tests in primary care.”
Looking ahead, there is a need for clear guidelines on how doctors should use these tests in clinical practice, according to the researchers.
“My prediction is that highly accurate blood tests will very soon be recommended for use in patients with cognitive impairment who are assessed at clinics specialized in memory disorders,” Hansson said.
The blood test could help to reduce the need for more advanced and expensive methods, like PET scans and cerebrospinal tests. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
This could help to reduce the need for more advanced and expensive methods, like PET scans and cerebrospinal tests.
“I think it will take one or two years before there are clinical guidelines in place for use of blood tests in primary care,” Hansson also noted.
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The researchers do not currently recommend screenings for “cognitively normal people” — as there are not any approved treatments for people with Alzheimer’s disease pathology who do not have cognitive impairment, the researcher said.
“My prediction is that highly accurate blood tests will very soon be recommended for use in patients with cognitive impairment who are assessed at clinics specialized in memory disorders,” a researcher predicted. (iStock)
Added Hansson, “Further, we propose that the blood test should be used as an adjunct to, and not replacement for, the clinical assessments used today.”
Approximately one in five women and one in 10 men develop dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
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The condition is misdiagnosed in 25% to 35% of patients who are treated at specialized clinics, previous studies have shown — and researchers believe that number is even higher for patients assessed by their primary care physicians.
Medical expert analyzes trending IV therapy, concerns about peptides
Dr. Mike Varshavski joins ‘Fox & Friends’ for Wellness Week, examining trending self-care treatments. He evaluates IV vitamin therapy, highlighting its hospital-critical role versus unproven benefits for general wellness, citing potential risks like vitamin imbalance. Dr. Mike also differentiates creatine, a research-backed supplement, from unregulated peptides marketed with unverified anti-aging and muscle growth promises, urging caution for patients.
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We are officially living in the “maxxing” era.
From “looksmaxxing” to improve appearance to “sleepmaxxing” for better rest, these viral terms all point to the same goal: squeezing every ounce of potential out of a specific trait or habit.
With a growing focus on optimizing wellness and maximizing longevity, the trend has evolved into what’s known as “humanmaxxing,” sparking a bigger question: How far can people go to optimize the human body?
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While there is no single definition of humanmaxxing, the trend generally refers to efforts to optimize health, performance and longevity through a combination of lifestyle habits, health tracking, supplements and, in some cases, more experimental interventions.
While there is no single definition of humanmaxxing, the trend generally refers to efforts to optimize health, performance and longevity through a combination of lifestyle habits, health tracking, supplements and, in some cases, more experimental interventions. (iStock)
For some, the movement begins with biohacking. According to Dave Asprey, a Texas-based wellness expert who refers to himself as the “father of biohacking,” optimizing your body starts with changing your environment.
Asprey has defined biohacking as “the art and science of changing the environment around you or inside you so that you have full control of your own biology.”
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His public advice focuses on boosting cellular energy through everyday choices like intermittent fasting, high-fat diets, red-light therapy and supplement routines.
“My goal right now is 180 years, because I’m doing something about it now instead of waiting,” he once said.
Clinical experts warn that extreme self-experimentation skips the rigorous safety checks that typical medical science requires. (iStock)
Others have embraced a more data-driven approach. Tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, creator of the multimillion-dollar longevity project Blueprint in Los Angeles, argues that optimizing the body means removing human error from health decisions and instead relying on medical data.
“Methodically, we sought to build an algorithm with science and data that could better care for me than I can myself,” Johnson wrote on his website. “My mind did not have the authority to override the algorithm.”
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Johnson’s routine involves tracking hundreds of health metrics, eating a precisely measured diet, taking dozens of supplements, and undergoing advanced medical treatments in an effort to reduce his biological age.
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At the far end of the spectrum are those investing in technologies aimed at pushing the limits of human performance.
London-based tech investor Christian Angermayer recently described humanmaxxing as a strategy toward human maximization.
Tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, creator of the multimillion-dollar longevity project Blueprint, argues that optimizing the body means removing human error from health decisions and instead relying on medical data. (iStock)
“I don’t think we should become something different, because I think humans are awesome, but I think we can maximize the potential [that] is already in us,” he said in an interview with The New York Times.
Angermayer’s investment firm, Apeiron Investment Group, focuses on technologies intended to help people “live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.” He also founded atai Life Sciences, a biotechnology company that develops psychedelic treatments for mental health conditions that are currently being evaluated in clinical trials.
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As interest in humanmaxxing grows, mainstream health experts urge consumers to separate evidence-based wellness practices from experimental interventions.
Public guidance from the National Institute on Aging notes that while some anti-aging therapies have shown promise in laboratory research, there is not yet sufficient evidence that they can safely extend human life.
As interest in humanmaxxing grows, mainstream health experts urge consumers to separate evidence-based wellness practices from experimental interventions. (iStock)
Clinical experts also caution that extreme self-experimentation can bypass the rigorous safety standards applied to conventional medical treatments.
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According to the Endocrine Society, taking substances such as testosterone or growth hormone without a medical need can lead to serious health risks, including cardiovascular complications and long-term disruption of the body’s chemical balance.
While many humanmaxxing habits overlap with standard healthy lifestyle practices, experts say consumers should be cautious of expensive or experimental interventions that promise dramatic anti-aging or longevity benefits without strong scientific evidence.
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A new test could make it easier to detect high-risk prostate cancer cases earlier.
The blood test, called Stockholm3, is showing promise in clinical trials, beating out the traditional, standard prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.
In a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden studied the test’s efficacy in more than 12,000 men — mostly Swedish or European — aged 50 to 74.
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All participants were tested with PSA and Stockholm3 and were followed for two years. During the follow-up period, 443 men were diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer.
Stockholm3 detected 90% of aggressive prostate cancer cases compared to 74% for PSA tests.
Stockholm3 detected 90% of aggressive prostate cancer cases compared to 74% for PSA tests. (iStock)
Stockholm3 missed “significantly fewer” serious cancer cases than PSA. The number of men incorrectly classified as high-risk was similar across both tests, according to a press release.
Thorgerdur Palsdottir, a researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, wrote in a statement that one of the major challenges in prostate cancer is being able to identify the cases that are “truly dangerous.”
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“Our results show that Stockholm3 identifies significantly more aggressive cancer cases than PSA without increasing the number of unnecessary follow-ups,” she said.
“These results point toward a potential change in how prostate cancer screening can be conducted,” the researcher added. “A more precise blood test could enable earlier detection of aggressive disease while reducing the number of unnecessary follow-up examinations and procedures.”
“A more precise blood test could enable earlier detection of aggressive disease while reducing the number of unnecessary follow-up examinations and procedures,” a researcher commented. (iStock)
Study co-author Hari Vigneswaran, chief medical officer of Stockholm3-maker A3P Biomedical, commented on these “promising” findings in an interview with Fox News Digital.
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He confirmed that the PSA has been the standard for prostate cancer screening since the 1990s despite its “well-documented limitations.”
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“It leads to invasive and costly follow-up testing, contributes to over-diagnosis of non-aggressive cancers and, most importantly, it misses a substantial share of aggressive disease,” Vigneswaran said.
When aggressive prostate cancer is found while still confined in the prostate, the five-year survival is close to 100%. (iStock)
When aggressive prostate cancer is found while still confined in the prostate, the five-year survival rate is close to 100%, which highlights the importance of early detection, according to the doctor.
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Data from the National Cancer Institute’s SEER database show that metastatic prostate cancer has risen over the past decade, suggesting that “we have not improved early detection of the aggressive, curable disease that screening is meant to catch,” Vigneswaran said.
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“The goal of screening is to find the cancers that need treatment while they are still curable, without raising the number of men who screen positive but don’t have aggressive disease,” he said.
Stockholm3 could reduce the need for unnecessary MRIs and biopsies, according to the researcher. (Getty Images)
Stockholm3 could reduce the need for unnecessary MRIs and biopsies, according to the researcher.
The findings did have some limitations. Stockholm3 is an investigational device and is not available for sale in the U.S., Vigneswaran noted.
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The test estimates a man’s risk of aggressive prostate cancer, but a biopsy remains the gold standard for confirming the disease.
The company plans to seek FDA approval to use the test for routine screening and will “generate the evidence needed to support that pathway, including U.S. data,” Vigneswaran said.
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