Alzheimer’s disease is a looming threat as we age. The most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s afflicts roughly 1 in 9 people over 65—with women making up two-thirds of cases.
For years, Alzheimer’s could be definitively diagnosed only after death through autopsy. But promising new blood tests offer hope that doctors can determine who is most at risk and gain time to use new treatments that could slow the disease’s progression. However, these tests aren’t yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and don’t actually diagnose the disease; they only estimate risk.
