Pat & Dennis Bender Early Dementia Diagnosis & Prognosis Fund

 

J. Dennis Bender

Office, Home & Cell Phone: 859-391-5226

5726 La Jolla Blvd. – Suite 311

La Jolla, CA 92037-7345

&

Office - 100 Riverside Pl. - Suite 303

Covington, KY 41011-5711

 

We support the development of improved diagnostic methods for the early detection and diagnosis of MCI, Alzheimer’s, vascular and other dementias, their likely prognosis, and best treatment options. We focus on the development of Bayesian-based, medical-decision-support systems, comparative-effectiveness research, and the better utilization of these for the above. (After incorporating in KY as a 501(c)3 in 2002, we dissolved that entity in favor of a simplified form of two entirely self-financed, private philanthropies utilizing a Vanguard Charitable Trust for making annual-research-grants for early-dementia-detection and its correct differential-diagnosis and likely-prognosis. They will continue on, after I am long gone, either mentally or physically, with annual grants. Scripps Foundation, Profs. Randall Bateman, James Brewer and others will be our fund’s future research grant advisors. KMK Law is our legal advisor and my estate executor is Elizabeth Dunn.

 (See: https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/research_progress/earlier-diagnosis)

 

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www.JDBender.com – EMS/eVTOL & Educational Experimental Aviation Fund (Vanguard Charitable Trust)

www.JDBender.org – Dementia Diagnosis Fund (Vanguard Charitable Trust)

 

August 7, 2024

 

“The researchers discovered that the primary-care doctors were wrong in their Alzheimer’s-disease-diagnosis 36% of the time. They were also wrong 41% of the time when they thought patients didn’t have Alzheimer’s-disease but actually did. . . By analyzing these biomarkers, the model calculates a score, known as the Amyloid Probability Score 2 (APS2), which ranges from 0-to-100. This score indicates the likelihood that a patient has amyloid-plaques in their brain, which are the core pathology with Alzheimer’s-disease.”

The APS2 blood-test for Alzheimer’s-disease is a blood-test that’s sold under the name PrecivityAD2. It looks at several ratios for certain blood-biomarkers in identifying Alzheimer’s-disease—APS2 and p-tau-217 to determine the probability of Alzheimer’s. It outperformed physician’s diagnostic skills by a substantial amount.

We now have the first of exactly what we have been working on developing for the past two decades. There are a number of similar alternative combo blood-tests also being developed, but this is a great start in the right direction and appears to be the best currently available option. (A perfect place to take off for my summer return to Cincinnati/Covington to close-up that summer condo for the final time.)

What Doctors Want You to Know About the New Blood Test for Alzheimer’s-Disease

It’s Already Available, For Starters

By Korin Miller - Aug 6, 2024

• New research finds a blood test accurately diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease in patients.
• The blood test was 90% accurate in the study.
• This blood test is currently available in the U.S.

Alzheimer’s disease impacts more than 6 million Americans, slowly destroying memory and thinking skills until people are unable to do even the simplest tasks. But the medical community has struggled be able to accurately diagnose the condition, and tests are often invasive. Now, new research has found that Alzheimer’s-disease may be able to be accurately diagnosed with the help of a simple blood-test.

The study, which was published in JAMA, [and discussed in detail in my other long document on this topic,] analyzed data from about 1,200 people who sought care for mild memory problems. About 300 patients were given the blood-test, known as Amyloid Probability Score 2, or APS2. Their results were compared with results from spinal-taps or PET-scans [that I helped to fund the development of at the U. of Pittsburgh in 2001.]

The researchers also asked primary-care doctors and memory-specialists to determine based on evaluations which patients had Alzheimer’s-disease. The researchers discovered that the primary-care doctors were wrong in their Alzheimer’s-disease-diagnosis 36% of the time. They were also wrong 41% of the time when they thought patients didn’t have Alzheimer’s-disease but actually did.

Memory specialists did a little better: They were wrong 25% of the time in giving patients an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and 29% of the time in missing a proper diagnosis.

But the blood-test was only wrong 10% of the time.

So, how does the APS2 test work and why it is important? Neurologists explain.

What is the APS2 blood-test for Alzheimer’s-disease, and how does it work? The APS2 blood test for Alzheimer’s-disease is a blood-test that’s sold under the name PrecivityAD2. It looks at several ratios for certain blood-biomarkers in identifying Alzheimer’s-disease—APS2 and p-tau-217.

“By analyzing these biomarkers, the model calculates a score, known as the Amyloid Probability Score 2 (APS2), which ranges from 0-to-100,” explains Michal Schnaider Beeri, Ph.D., Director of the Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center at Rutgers University. “This score indicates the likelihood that a patient has amyloid plaques in their brain, which are the core pathology with Alzheimer’s disease.”

The test is currently available in the U.S., but there aren’t clinical guidelines for using it right now. Meaning, it’s not considered part of the standard way of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease.

The test is done via a simple blood draw, and the sample is then shipped off to a lab for analysis. From there, doctors will get a positive or negative result that tells whether there is a high or low likelihood that someone has brain amyloids. Brain amyloids are proteins that clump together to form plaques in the brain and are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s-disease, per the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

Who should get the APS2 blood-test for Alzheimer’s-disease? Right now, there are no clear clinical guidelines to spell out how this test should be used. Also worth noting: The blood test wasn’t very accurate in the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease and was highest when patients had dementia. So, there seems to be a sweet-spot in using it.

Still, doctors say interest in the test is understandable. “This could significantly improve early diagnosis and patient management, ideally, providing earlier access to treatment,” says Verna Porter, M.D., a neurologist and director of the Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, CA.

What is the most accurate diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s-disease? Doctors have a few different options for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, and that’s a big deal. “Over ... 20 years or so, the single biggest success in Alzheimer’s-disease is in how we diagnose it,” says Matthew Schrag, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Not long ago, Alzheimer’s-disease was an autopsy-diagnosis, which is not particularly practical.”

Now, Dr. Scrag says that doctors can get “excellent diagnostic results” using certain kinds of PET-scans [that we helped to develop at the U. of Pittsburgh in 2001,] or by measuring cerebrospinal-fluid. “But these types of PET-scans are expensive and not available at most sites, and cerebrospinal fluid tests require a lumbar-puncture,” he says. “Having a reliable blood-test on the market would make the diagnostic process much easier.”

Dr. Scrag points-out that this isn’t the only blood-test for Alzheimer’s-disease out there. “A number of blood tests are looking promising, and most are based on detecting forms of beta-amyloid and/or tau in the blood—the test in this paper uses both approaches,” he explains.

But while Dr. Scrag calls these study results “impressive,” he says people shouldn’t assume that it’s more reliable than a doctor. Why? “The results need to be interpreted in the context of patients’ symptoms,” he explains.

Dr. Porter says that more research is needed to see how best to use these tests in the future. “This includes assessing whether early and accurate diagnosis through blood-tests leads to timely and appropriate treatment interventions, improved patient prognoses, and better overall healthcare efficiency,” she says.

This particular test was used on a sample group in Sweden and Dr. Scrag says it’s important to use it on different demographics in the future, along with making sure the findings can be replicated. “Nevertheless, this is a promising result and hopefully will be thoroughly validated and available.”

Meet the experts: Verna Porter, M.D., a Neurologist and Director of the Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, CA, Matthew Schrag, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; Michal Schnaider Beeri, Ph.D., Director of the Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center at Rutgers University.

Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a Master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.

{APS2 Blood-Test for AD}