Major trial aims to detect Alzheimer’s earlier using online tests and blood screening

A major new Australian trial could help detect Alzheimer’s disease years earlier, giving hope to hundreds of thousands of people and potentially easing the growing strain on the nation’s health system.

Researchers plan to combine online memory tests with a new blood test to identify people at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s before symptoms become severe.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: New Alzheimer’s test offers early detection hope

The study, led by the Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT), aims to recruit thousands of participants and test whether a large-scale screening program could dramatically improve early diagnosis.

Dementia is already one of Australia’s most pressing health challenges.

“Australia is the leading cause of death and disability in people over the age of 65. It’s also the cause of 60 per cent of admissions to permanent residential aged care, and currently hospital beds around the country are being blocked due to the shortage of residential aged care beds, ADNeT director Professor Christopher Rowe told 7NEWS.

He says the problem will only intensify as Australia’s population ages.

“We have to use new technology to prevent and treat this condition,” he said.

The proposed trial combines two emerging diagnostic tools: online cognitive testing and a blood test designed to detect proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Rowe says recent scientific advances mean detecting the disease early is becoming far more achievable.

“New technology that’s recently emerged enables us to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, with a simple blood test,” Rowe said.

“Also with advances in online memory testing, we can detect early decline in memory just by self-testing on various websites.”

When the two methods are combined, doctors believe they can identify people at high risk of dementia long before symptoms become severe.

“If you combine the two, we can detect people at high risk of progressing to dementia, get in and treat early when treatment is most effective,” he said.

He says the tools have strong reliability.

“These tests are good...there’s now overwhelming evidence that early treatment gives better outcomes, just like any other area of medicine,” he said.

“We believe this has the potential to reduce the number of people developing dementia in the long run and save the government billions of dollars in annual expenditure.”

Australians over the age of 55 interested in taking part in the research can register through the Australian Dementia Network’s volunteer portal here.

How the blood test works

GP and dementia researcher Dr Stephanie Daly says the blood test measures proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

“The blood test is called Ptau217, which is a long name, but really it correlates to the buildup of a protein that happens in the brains of people who have Alzheimer’s disease,” she said.

Until recently, detecting those proteins required invasive or expensive tests.

“Previously we’ve been able to detect this through scans and lumbar punctures, but that’s a little bit invasive and costly...now a blood test can tell us whether or not that protein is present,” she said.

The technology could help doctors identify patients much sooner.

“And so that enables us to make a more timely diagnostic assessment of people who have memory and thinking changes,” she said.

Earlier diagnosis is especially important as new medications become available.

“There are new medications that are best used when people have mild symptoms,” she said.

Daly says having clear answers can also be valuable for patients and their families.

“I think it actually helps people to feel more understanding of what their symptoms actually mean and what’s likely to happen for them in the future,” Daly said.

“Using a test that you know is reliable to give people further information enables them to plan their future more effectively.”

Living with Alzheimer’s

For 78-year-old Jennifer Gardner, Alzheimer’s was something she had worried about for years. Her mother had the disease and she feared the same diagnosis might come.

“I think it’s been coming for a long time and not surprising given that my mother had it,” she said.

Now diagnosed, she says having clarity has helped her come to terms with the condition.

“I think it’s good to have some clarity around it and because both my mother and brother suffered from dementia it was not unexpected.”

The hardest part, she says, is worrying about how it may affect those around her.

“I don’t want to be a burden, that’s my main thought,” she said.

Despite the diagnosis, she focuses on staying active and connected.

“I think it’s really important to try and keep up some social contact, keep in touch with friends and to do things together like walking and just keeping fit generally,” she said.

A growing national challenge

More than 400,000 Australians are currently living with dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease responsible for about three-quarters of cases.

Rowe says the social and economic costs are already immense.

“Currently it’s costing the Australian community $18 billion per year and over the next 30 years that figure will at least double,” Rowe said.

“Early detection is vital for effective treatment and what we propose is a mechanism for early detection so the most effective treatments can be given for the best effect.”

If funded, the national trial aims to recruit thousands of Australians to help test the approach and determine whether widespread screening could become part of routine care.