The United States Food and Medicines Administration (FDA) authorized Fujirebio Diagnostics to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, which makes it the first test of this type.
Blood analysis, called lumipulse, will be used in principle to rule out Alzheimer’s, with positive results that will indicate the need for more advanced diagnoses.
The Alzheimer’s, which gradually destroys memory and the ability to think, is characterized by certain changes in the brain, such as the accumulation of beta amyloid plates that cause the loss of neurons responsible for transmitting the information.
The Fujirebio device measures two specific proteins in the blood, PTAU217 and β-amyloid 1-42, and calculates a quotient among them.
This quotient is related to the presence of amyloid plaques in the brain, which is an indication of the Alzheimer’s.
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The detection of these plates usually requires a PET brain scanner or a lumbar puncture, which is a more invasive procedure to collect spine fluid.
Lumipulse only requires blood extraction, which makes it much easier and more comfortable for patients, according to FDA.
“Alzheimer’s disease affects too many people, more than breast cancer and prostate cancer together,” said Martin Makary, FDA commissioner.
“Knowing that 10% of people 65 years of age or older suffer from Alzheimer’s and that by 2050 this figure is expected to double, I hope that new medical products like this will help patients.”
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According to a study led by researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Washington, Lumipulse and Privityad2, of C2N Diagnostics, they obtained the two best results compared to four other commercial blood tests to detect the Alzheimer’s.
With Reuters information
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