New blood test helps identify potential risks of Alzheimer’s disease

Clinical lab giant Quest Diagnostics has launched the first direct-to-consumer blood test that can help identify potential risks associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

The blood test, AD-Detect, assesses the potential risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease based on a brain protein that contributes to the condition. The tests cost $399.

Connie Lesko is cautiously optimistic about the test. Her parents were both diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“You can’t imagine it unless you live it,” Lesko said.

Their experience and death prompted Lesko to go through clinical trials herself.

“My first response is that’s too easy. That’s too good to be true, but seriously, if I didn’t believe that there is some progress being made, then I would quit working so hard to make money,” Lesko said.

Quest Diagnostics claims the blood test can spot abnormal levels of amyloid beta proteins to help spot early signs associated with the risk of developing the disease.

People can buy a test online if they fit the qualifications of being at high risk for developing Alzheimer’s or experiencing cognitive symptoms and are over the age of 18.

They’ll then be sent to a Quest Diagnostics location for the blood draw and, shortly after, will receive their results with an option to discuss them with an independent doctor.

“I want it to be that easy,” Lesko said.

Lesko has hope as well as reservations, as does Dr. Amanda Smith with USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

In a statement to ABC Action News, Smith said:

“This test has been available since about November for physicians to order and we have been regularly using it in our clinic to assist in diagnosis. But, I do have some concerns about the direct-to-consumer version. Although they say it is reviewed by a physician, it is just one piece of information that should really be done in the context of a more comprehensive memory evaluation that includes a thorough interview, cognitive testing, brain imaging, and other lab tests.

In addition, it may open the door for people who are still cognitively eligible for any FDA-approved treatment to get potentially devastating news without anything they can really do about it. Such people may be better served screening for a prevention trial like the AHEAD Study, where not only do they get more sophisticated biomarker testing, they also have the opportunity to get access to amyloid-removing drugs that currently can only be prescribed to people in the clinical setting who already have Mild Cognitive Impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s.”

For more information about AD-Detect, visit here.