The test can detect the biomarkers of the disease 10-15 years before it becomes full-blown.
For more than a century since it was discovered by German neuroscientist Alois Alzheimer, the disease named after him has boggled the scientific community. Global life expectancy at the time of the discovery was less than 35 years. With the average lifespan increasing to more than 70 today, Alzheimer’s afflicts many more times the number of people today than when it was discovered. More than 55 million people worldwide over the age of 60 today suffer cognitive impairments and 60-70 per cent of them go on to develop the most corrosive form of dementia. Though research over the years has identified the characteristics of the disease, and in recent years, drug development has made some headway, questions remain about how best to treat Alzheimer’s. In most parts of the world, including India, tests to diagnose the disease are undertaken only after the onset of symptoms. However, there is growing unanimity amongst scientists that the precursors to Alzheimer’s begin to accumulate in the brain at least 10 years before the symptoms show up. That’s why a blood test developed by researchers at AIIMS, Delhi, could be a significant breakthrough in Alzheimer’s management.
The AIIMS researchers tested 90 people on six blood markers, the levels of which can indicate an early onset of Alzheimer’s. The test can detect the biomarkers of the disease 10-15 years before it becomes full-blown. Alzheimer’s develops over 15-20 years. An early diagnosis can help clinicians manage symptoms better — medicines that promise a cure for the milder form of the disease have not yet entered the treatment protocols in most parts of the world. Dementia screenings are particularly relevant for India where cognitive impairments are often confused with “natural” signs of ageing. Though diagnostic rates are improving, the disease remains poorly understood, even amongst sections of the medical community, and many patients live with symptoms that their near ones find difficult to understand. If it is successful in larger trials, the blood test developed by the AIIMS researchers could be a step towards easing the predicaments of the caregivers and giving patients a life of dignity.
Last year, another study by AIIMS Delhi researchers in collaboration with 18 other institutes in the country and the University of South California estimated that 7.4 per cent of senior citizens in India suffer from dementia. With the population of the elderly growing in the next decade, the disease could affect close to 1.7 crore Indians by 2035, the study warned. India needs a healthcare strategy for its elderly. The blood test developed by AIIMS researchers could be a key part of it.
