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 14, 2024

 

 

PrecivityAD2 “performed far better than clinical evaluations done without biomarker-based testing. Such clinical evaluations were 73% accurate at identifying the disease when done in specialty memory clinics, and only 61% accurate when done in primary-care settings. . . We see this as a major-step towards global clinical implementation of an Alzheimer’s blood-test.”

Another overview of this important new development that we have been working on for the past two-decades. An accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s-disease currently requires either a sample of cerebrospinal-fluid or a brain-imaging test called a PET-scan. Neither of these tests can be done in primary-care clinics, where most people with cognitive complaints are first seen. Such roadblocks slow or prevent the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Not having an official diagnosis prevents people from receiving drugs that can now at least slow the progression of the disease. PrecivityAD2 can do this. My own research funding is for a Bayesian-based diagnostic procedure incorporating just such a blood-test, along with any other available diagnostic measures. (A good point to close-down these reviews for my return to sell my Covington condo and return permanently to my home here in La Jolla.)

 

Research Highlights

Accurate Blood Test for Alzheimer’s-Disease

Alzheimer's Disease Biomarkers Clinical Research Dementias

From NIH Research Matters - August 14, 2024 — by Sharon Reynolds

An accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s-disease currently requires either a sample of cerebrospinal-fluid or a brain-imaging test called a PET-scan. Neither of these tests can be done in primary-care clinics, where most people with cognitive complaints are first seen.

Such bottlenecks slow or prevent the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Not having an official diagnosis prevents people from receiving drugs that can slow the progression of the disease. It can also keep them from joining studies of new treatments.

Researchers have been working to develop easier blood-tests for Alzheimer’s. These tests measure proteins related to the disease called beta-amyloid and tau. Abnormal buildup of certain forms of beta-amyloid and tau can cause them to spill into the bloodstream from the brain. Many blood-tests for Alzheimer’s have shown promising results. However, to date, most studies of these tests have not been done in real-world settings such as community-clinics.

In a new study, funded in part by NIH, researchers led by Drs. Sebastian Palmqvist and Oskar Hansson from Lund University in Sweden collected blood-samples from people who were being evaluated because of cognitive-symptoms. More than 500 older-adults were recruited from local primary-care clinics and nearly 700 from nearby specialty memory-care clinics.

The researchers used a test called PrecivityAD2. This measures the ratio of two types of beta-amyloid as well as the proportion of tau made up of a specific type called p-tau-217. Both measures were previously shown to predict a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. In a previous study, the team defined the levels of these molecules required to confirm a diagnosis of the disease.

In the new study, the researchers compared blood-test results with those from either a spinal-fluid-test or PET-scan. They also compared the performance of the blood-test with that of standard-clinical-evaluations performed by doctors. Such evaluations include a physical-examination, cognitive-testing, and a CT-scan of the brain. Results were published on July 28, 2024, in JAMA.

Across all the participants, the blood test predicted a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s with 88%-to-92% accuracy. Further analysis found that measuring the proportion of p-tau-217 alone yielded results similar to using both measures.

The blood-test performed far better than clinical evaluations done without biomarker-based testing. Such clinical evaluations were 73% accurate at identifying the disease when done in specialty memory clinics, and only 61% accurate when done in primary-care settings.

“We see this as a major-step towards global clinical implementation of an Alzheimer’s blood-test,” Hansson says. “The next-steps include establishing clear guidelines for how an Alzheimer’s blood-test can be used in clinical-practice, preferably by implementing these tests first in specialist care and then in primary-care. This work is currently ongoing.”

While the test used in the study is sold in the United States, it is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration or covered by most insurance plans. The study also needs to be replicated in more diverse populations than the Swedish one studied.

Reference: Palmqvist S, et al. Blood biomarkers to detect Alzheimer disease in primary care and secondary care. JAMA. 2024. Epub July 28. doi: 10.1001/jama.2024.13855.

{Blood Test for AD 9}