New blood testing to detect early Alzheimer’s not yet FDA approved

PANAMA CITY, Fla. ( WMBB ) — Florida has the second largest number of people living with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. with more than 580,000 cases.

Doctors and researchers are making great advances in the study and treatment of Alzheimer’s. The biggest advancement is in blood biomarkers.

Just this week, the Alzheimer’s Association unveiled information about a new blood test for early detection.

“To detect Amyloid-beta or tau inside the brain or inside the body, which those are two hallmarks of the disease,” said Alzheimer’s Association research champion Stefanie Wardlow.

Until recently, biomarkers for the cognitive condition have been found through PET scans or cerebral spinal fluid tests, which are more invasive and expensive.

The association said a new blood biomarker test improves the accuracy of a diagnosis by about 20%.

“It’s around 90% accurate and identifying Alzheimer in patients with cognitive symptoms seen in a primary care or at a specialized memory care clinic,” Wardlow said.

Wardlow said the biggest benefit of knowing early is a new medication that slows the disease from the start.

“The medication works to remove Amyloid-beta in the brain or early, early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. So early detection is the way that it’s going to slow the disease down so that we’ll have more time with our families, loved ones,” Wardlow said.

Okaloosa County resident Brieanne Raines lost her grandfather in 2017 after a 12-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

“My grandfather was a Korean War vet. He also was a member of a town he had experienced as a law enforcement as well. So he had done all the things in their local town,” Raines said.

She describes his battle with the disease as terrifying and exhausting.

“To constantly be forgetting where am I going, what am I doing? And kind of resetting constantly. He had terrible sundowners, so at night he would have hallucinations,” Raines said.

Raines is helping spread the news about the new testing to honor her grandfather’s memory and to give families more time.

“Giving that family patience and grace through the process and helping them understand and cope through the changes and recognizing that their loved ones no longer their loved one. And how do they how do they manage that? How do they work through those obstacles and those hurdles,” Raines said.

The FDA has not yet approved the new blood biomarker tests.  The Alzheimer’s Association expects that approval in the next 6 months.

Florida state insurance and state Medicaid will cover the tests and other biometric procedures starting in January with HB 885: Coverage for Biomarker Testing .

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