Health: A new tool can accurately predict the onset of Alzheimer's within the next four years

Developed by experts from Sweden's Lund University, the approach has the potential to speed up diagnoses while removing the need for costly, specialist equipment. At present, some 20–30 per cent of patients with Alzheimer's disease are misdiagnosed in specialist care alone, let alone primary care, the team noted. A new tool -- using just a blood test (pictured) and a quick set of cognitive tests -- can predict whether someone will develop Alzheimer's in four years with 90 per cent accuracy'Our algorithm is based on a blood analysis of phosphylated rope and a risk gene for Alzheimer's, as well as testing of memory and executive ability,' said neurologist Sebastian Palmqvist of Lund University and the Skåne University Hospital. 'We have developed an online tool to calculate the risk at the individual level that a person with mild memory difficulties will develop Alzheimer's within four years.' In their study, Professor Palmqvist and colleagues examined 340 people with mild memory difficulties who had been recruited into the Swedish BioFINDER Study into neurodegenerative diseases and 543 people from North America.