Summary: The UK is set to conduct nationwide trials to evaluate the effectiveness of blood tests in diagnosing dementia. The Blood Biomarker Challenge aims to validate potential blood tests for clinical use in the NHS within five years.
These tests, which show promise in identifying Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias through biomarkers like p-tau217, could revolutionize diagnosis, facilitating earlier and more accurate detection. This initiative addresses the urgent need for accessible diagnostic methods, especially in light of potential new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease on the horizon.
Key Facts:
The trials leverage recent breakthroughs in blood tests for dementia, aiming to introduce them to NHS practice within five years.
Led by top UK research institutions, the studies will focus on biomarkers for Alzheimer’s and other dementias, testing their efficacy in a diverse UK population.
Funded by a multi-million-pound award, this initiative promises to significantly enhance dementia diagnosis, ensuring equitable access to emerging treatments.
Source: UCL
Thousands of people in the UK are to take part in countrywide trials to identify accurate and quick blood tests that can diagnose dementia, led by research teams at UCL and Dementias Platform UK, based at the University of Oxford.
The trials will capitalise on recent breakthroughs in potential dementia blood tests to generate the evidence needed for them to be used in the NHS within the next 5 years.
Both teams will recruit participants from sites spread across the country, to ensure their findings are applicable to the whole of the UK’s diverse population. Credit: Neuroscience News
Together, the research teams make up the Blood Biomarker Challenge – a multi-million-pound award given by Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Research and Gates Ventures, including £5m raised by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. The project aims to revolutionise dementia diagnosis.
Both teams will recruit participants from sites spread across the country, to ensure their findings are applicable to the whole of the UK’s diverse population.
Timely and accurate diagnosis of the diseases that cause dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, is crucial as it means people can access vital care and support and take part in medical research. This will be even more imperative if new treatments are approved for use in the NHS, as these work best for people in the earliest stage of their disease.
Currently, people are usually diagnosed using memory tests and brain scans. These are less accurate than ‘gold standard’ tests like PET scans or lumbar punctures, which can confirm what type of dementia they have. However, only 2% of people can access these specialist tests.
In recent years, a number of different blood tests that can diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of dementia have shown very promising results in research settings. But they have yet to be tested widely in clinical settings in the UK.
Led by Professor Jonathan Schott (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, honorary consultant neurologist at UCLH, and Chief Medical Officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK) and Dr Ashvini Keshavan (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), the Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis and Plasma p-tau217 (ADAPT) team will focus on the most promising biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease, called p-tau217.
This reflects levels of two hallmark proteins found inside the brain in Alzheimer’s disease – amyloid and tau. The researchers will carry out a clinical trial to see whether measuring p-tau217 in the blood increases the rate of diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease both in people with early dementia, but also in those with mild, progressive problems with memory.
Professor Schott said: “An early, accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is already important, allowing people to access appropriate care and medications. If, as we hope, new treatments that can slow down Alzheimer’s disease become available soon, then this will be vital.
“This would pave the way for fair and equitable access to new and potentially life-changing treatments to all who might benefit.”
The Real World Dementia Outcomes (READ-OUT) team will be led by Dr Vanessa Raymont, Associate Director at Dementias Platform UK and a Senior Clinical Researcher at the University of Oxford, alongside other researchers including some from the University of Cambridge.
They will test multiple existing and novel blood tests, looking at a range of types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies. The researchers will also look at whether blood tests can help detect these diseases at various stages.
Dr Raymont said: “Since I first stepped into a memory clinic 30 years ago there has thankfully been a shift in the way society thinks about dementia. There was previously a feeling that this was just another part of ageing, but now we’re seeing that people want to know more about their condition and they want a diagnosis as it helps them access the support they need.
“Both my parents lived with dementia so I know firsthand the devastation this disease causes, and how a timely and accurate diagnosis can benefit people and their families.”
These complementary approaches will maximise the chances of providing the evidence needed to prove that blood tests are ready for use in the NHS, and will pave the way for them to be made available within the next 5 years.
With more than half of all local authority districts in England failing to meet the government’s target dementia diagnosis rate of 66.7%, and with new drugs on the horizon which appear to slow early Alzheimer’s disease, experts from both charities and the research teams agree that change is needed.
Fiona Carragher, Director of Research and Influencing at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “At the moment only 2% of people with dementia can access the specialised tests needed for a diagnosis, leading to unnecessary delays, worry and uncertainty. Blood tests are part of the answer to this problem – they’re quick, easy to administer and cheaper than current, more complex tests.
“I’ve spent decades working in research and the NHS and, after years of slow progress, it feels like we’re on the cusp of a new chapter on how we treat dementia in this country.”
And Dr Sheona Scales, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, added: “We’ve seen the enormous potential that blood tests are showing for improving the diagnostic process for people and their loved ones in other disease areas. Now we need to see this same step-change in dementia, which is the greatest health challenge facing the UK.
“It’s fantastic that through collaborating with the leading experts in the dementia community, we can look to bring cutting-edge blood tests for diagnosing dementia within the NHS. And this will be key to widening access to groundbreaking new treatments that are on the horizon.”
About this Alzheimer’s disease research news
Author: Tom Cramp Source: UCL Contact: Tom Cramp – UCL Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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