{"id":133737,"date":"2023-11-15T15:37:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T15:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?p=133737"},"modified":"2023-11-15T15:37:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T15:37:22","slug":"blood-tests-to-diagnose-dementia-could-be-rolled-out-on-nhs-in-five-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/lifestyle\/blood-tests-to-diagnose-dementia-could-be-rolled-out-on-nhs-in-five-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood tests to diagnose dementia could be rolled out on NHS in five years"},"content":{"rendered":"

GB News: Alastair Stewart announcing his dementia diagnosis<\/h3>\n

Blood tests to \u201crevolutionise\u201d the way dementia is diagnosed could be rolled out on the NHS within five years, experts say.<\/p>\n

These biomarker tests identify the diseases that cause dementia by searching for minute fragments of proteins such as amyloid and tau, which build up in the brain.<\/p>\n

Some are in the late stages of development and have been found to be 90 percent accurate compared to current gold-standard methods.<\/p>\n

However, further research is needed to pilot their use in the NHS with diverse, real world populations and ensure that they are accurate, cheap, and can be widely used.<\/p>\n

Charities Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK and Alzheimer\u2019s Society are launching a joint \u00a35million drive to accelerate this vital work and bring a blood test to the NHS by 2029.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It comes at a crucial time, when the first disease-modifying treatments could be approved within months.<\/p>\n

Those treatments will only benefit people with mild cognitive impairment or in the early stages of Alzheimer\u2019s, making an early and accurate diagnosis more important than ever.<\/p>\n

Dr Fiona Carragher, director of research and influencing at Alzheimer\u2019s Society, said: \u201cIn the UK, we are a long way from a universal, early and accurate diagnosis of the diseases that cause dementia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK doesn\u2019t possess adequate diagnostic infrastructure now or for the future, when we\u2019re expecting a potential surge in demand for emerging treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to disrupt the diagnostic paradigm to prepare the system for the hope that\u2019s coming in the future, and we believe that blood biomarkers provide a real opportunity to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Around 900,000 people are thought to be living with dementia in the UK – but an estimated 250,000 in England alone are undiagnosed.<\/p>\n

People who notice worrying symptoms can be referred to a specialist memory clinic by their GP.<\/p>\n

Lumbar punctures and PET scans are considered the gold standard for diagnosis. However, just two per cent of patients currently access these.<\/p>\n

The UK has just 0.5 PET scanners per one million people, compared with 1.6-5.1 per million in countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US.<\/p>\n

Dr Joanne Rodda, a consultant psychiatrist at Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, has worked in memory clinics for 20 years.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI can count on one hand the number of people in the last six months who have had a lumbar puncture.\u201d<\/p>\n