Origins of World Alzheimer's Day: In 1994, Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) initiated World Alzheimer's Day, uniting a global community to shed light on dementia's impact. This annual event emphasizes the imperative of collective action in addressing this pressing issue.
WANT TO KNOW MORE? For a better understanding of Alzheimer's Disease, patient stories, and how you can contribute to our mission of raising awareness about this disease while celebrating World Alzheimer's Day, please visit Alzheimer's Disease International: https://www.alzint.org/
Origins of World Alzheimer's Day: In 1994, Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) initiated World Alzheimer's Day, uniting a global community to shed light on dementia's impact. This annual event emphasizes the imperative of collective action in addressing this pressing issue.
WANT TO KNOW MORE? For a better understanding of Alzheimer's Disease, patient stories, and how you can contribute to our mission of raising awareness about this disease while celebrating World Alzheimer's Day, please visit Alzheimer's Disease International: https://www.alzint.org/
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive neurological disease. AD is generally characterized by widespread deposition of amyloid beta (amyloid-β) plaques outside neurons and aggregation of abnormally phosphorylated tau proteins (p-tau) within neurons. There is also decreased production of neurotransmitters. These changes are associated with damage and loss of neurons in various parts of the brain. The biological mechanisms that lead to the neuronal damage develop years before the onset of clinical symptoms.
Initial signs often manifest as short-term memory difficulties, progressing to confusion, disorientation, memory loss, language problems, and behavioral changes. In advanced stages, daily assistance becomes necessary, with profound short- and long-term memory challenges.
While there's currently no cure for AD, approved treatments focus on elevating neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Ongoing research is focused on therapies preventing the pathogenic mechanisms in early stages.
Appropriate and timely diagnosis is crucial in supporting and treating individuals with AD, but also for adequate care and the possibility of participating in clinical trials.
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Diagnosis entails a comprehensive examination including medical history, cognitive assessments, physical examination, and neurological evaluation.
Accurate diagnosis, prognosis, and disease monitoring are notoriously difficult when relying on clinical information only. Therefore, biomarkers underlying pathologic mechanisms, such as amyloid-β deposition and phosphorylated tau (p-tau), play an important role; research has shown that they correlate with pathological features of the disease7.
These biomarkers can be detected in the brain using positron emission tomography (PET) scans or measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Technological breakthroughs have made measuring these markers in a simple blood sample possible. Although brain scans are precise, their high cost, invasive nature, and low availability prevent their widespread use in clinical practice. Biomarkers in CSF or blood are relevant because they show elevation at the early stages of the disease5.
p-Tau181 is a promising biomarker for AD. The p-Tau181 biomarker strongly corresponds to the density of amyloid- β plaques and tau tangles measured by PET scanning8,9.
In addition, p-Tau181 is highly accurate for the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease from other neurodegenerative disorders, including non-AD dementia9.
p-Tau181 is also effective at detecting early pathological changes in AD since the levels in plasma increase in early disease stages9,10,11,12. The p-Tau181 biomarker can identify patients at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment combined with cognitive testing and additional genotyping11.
The use of p-Tau181 as a biomarker for AD has also been positively demonstrated in an ethnically diverse population13.
The amount of p-Tau181 increases with symptom progression and severity, allowing disease progression and therapeutic response monitoring. response14,15.
Blood-based tests offer advantages over CSF tests by allowing for more comfortable patient sampling and less time required by healthcare professionals. Blood collection can be performed in conjunction with routine blood sampling; samples can be collected more often, which is advantageous when closer monitoring is needed.
The advent of ultra-sensitive technology is enabling the possibility of moving toward widespread blood-sampled testing in clinical practice and trials.