organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-a new fda approved alzheimers bloo...

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-a new fda approved alzheimers bloo...: A LZHEIMERS NEWS-A NEW FDA APPROVED ALZHEIMERS BLOOD TES this is a copy of my spinal fluid amyloid and tau tests done not long after i was d...

alzheimers news-a new fda approved alzheimers blood test

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A NEW FDA APPROVED ALZHEIMERS BLOOD TES

this is a copy of my spinal fluid amyloid and tau tests done not long after i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in 2010
at that time it was not proven to be alzheimers
i was having minimal symptoms that mainly showed up on an extensive neuropsychological memory test

the first study i was in was called the adni 2 or alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative 2
i started out in the normal control group but after my neuropsychological exam i was moved over to the mild cognitive impairment study group for the study

as part of the testing i had done was a lumbar puncture to analyze my spinal fluid
they took out an extra tube for me to send off to a private lab for analyses
even though they were doing the same test in the alzheimers study
they dont share the results with you

the spinal fluid analysis showed a lower amyloid level and an elevated tau level
they do a ratio of the two to determine if the levels are compatible with alzheimers

if i did not have alzheimers my level should have been in the upper left of that graft above
instead it was in the lower middle level real close to 
consistent with alzheimers disease

my second spinal test if done would have shifted over to the far lower right
consistent with alzheimers disease

this is consider the mild cognitive impairment range of the disease

this test confirms that my mild cognitive impairment is due to alzheimers disease

a year or so later i had another spinal tap in the study and i collected another tube of my spinal fluid to send off to the private lab to see if my test results had moved into the
consistent with alzheimers disease

however
the university was doing an multiple sclerosis study and they desperately needed clean spinal fluid that day for the study so i let them have my spinal fluid
i never got to send in that second sample

of course a few years later i had an amyloid pet scan that showed amyloid plaques which confirms my diagnosis
mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease

a quick review
amyloid plaque accumulates which kills brain cells
tau protein in the brain cells unwind and kills more brain cells
then an inflammatory reactions sets in to do more damage

this is what happens in alzheimers disease
this all worsens as time goes on

so when someone has memory issues in 2025
they see their provider for an evaluation
they have
a good history and exam looking for other treatable causes
like a stroke or low thyroid or drugs on sleep issues etc

then labs are done eg cbc chemistry profile thyroid level vitamin b12 vitamin d3

then a memory test is done
i would do a moca a montreal cognitive assessment test or equivalent test

then based on the above results
an mri is done to rule out masses tumors aneurysm stroke brain shrinkage etc

then
a spinal tap for amyloid and tau levels like i had done could be done
or
the new gold standard is the amyloid pet scan 
if one has alzheimers both of these will be positive

then if one has alzheimers you can start treatment like improving ones health and taking a drug like aricept
the sooner you start it in the disease process the better it works
patients actually live longer who are started on this earlier in the diagnosis

and or
if you are early in the disease you could start leqembi or kisunia to remove the amyloid plaques from the brain
which will slow down symptoms some
i took aduhelm a cousin to leqembi which removed the measurable plaques from my brain

soon in the future
after you start the work up and before you do a spinal tap or amyloid pet scan
the first is invasive the second is expensive

a new fda approved blood test can be done
it tests for the amyloid and tau in the blood and a ratio is done
its over 90% accurate

if is negative you probably dont have alzheimers
if its positive then an amyloid pet scan or a spinal tap for amyloid and tau is recommended to verify the diagnosis

i have had 2 spinal taps for similar tests multiple blood alzheimers tests and multiple amyloid pet scans and multiple tau protein tests
i only know the results of two of those
a positive amyloid pet scan before starting my aduhelm study and a negative amyloid pet scan when i finished my aduhelm study

somewhere in some computer is my lab and scan results that i can not access
i have asked for the results but have not received any yet
and i probably will not ever receive them

this new alzheimers blood test linked here is a big deal in folks having a memory loss workup
they may not have to have a spinal tap or amyloid pet scan
a simple blood test could be used to screen folks for the disease

so far its the only fda approved alzheimers blood test

i suspect it will be used a lot for these evaluations
it is only used in patients who have symptoms

go to this link from being patient who has a good review of this new fda approved test
if you are in the alzheimers world sign up for being patients newsletter

yes
this is exciting news

the organicgreen doctor

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