Blood test can exclude Alzheimer Disease
A blood test that analyzes levels of amyloid proteins by highly sensitive mass spectrometry could help physicians establish that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is likely not the cause of patients‘ mild cognitive impairment, finds a new study published in Frontiers in Neurology by researchers from Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), the University of Florida and Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. According to the analysis, up to 99% of patients with a negative result for amyloid proteins in the brain using an imaging procedure called positron emission tomography (PET) would likely be negative using a blood test that evaluates a ratio of amyloid beta 42 and 40 proteins (A?42/40), which are found in the brain and also circulate in the blood stream. With this level of prediction, the investigators determined the test could help reduce PET brain scan evaluations by about…


