Blood Test Can Identify Dementia Risk 10 Years Before Diagnosis: Study

A machine learning model created by researchers had a 90 percent accuracy rate in predicting the potential of dementia.

Memory lapses, forgetting things, degenerative disease. in a 3D rendering Shutterstock

Screening for a few proteins in the blood could lead to earlier detection of dementia, sometimes even a decade before diagnosis, according to a recent study.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the Nature Journal on Feb. 12, examined data from more than 52,000 adults with dementia and found over 1,400 cases of the illness. Researchers identified that four types of proteins found in the blood were “consistently associated most with incident all-cause dementia (ACD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD).” These four proteins are GFAP, NEFL, GDF15, and LTBP2.