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After years of research, a simple blood test has been developed that can predict familial Alzheimer's disease up to 16 years before clinical symptoms appear.

The blood test reliably detects signs of brain damage in people on the path to developing Alzheimer鈥檚 disease 鈥� even before they show signs of confusion and memory loss, according to a new study.

(NeuRA), part of the (DIAN), collaborated on a publication in 聽that details evidence for the聽blood test.

The DIAN study, which has been running since 2008, involves a global network of researchers, led by Professors John Morris and Randall Bateman at Washington University, St Louis, Missouri with study sites in the USA, England, Germany and three research teams in Australia 鈥� NeuRA, and the in WA. Together, researchers have been working with the rare families who carry the inherited Alzheimer鈥檚 disease genes to identify the biomarkers for potential predictive testing in the future.

Professor Colin Masters AO聽from the Florey Institute said, 鈥淭he blood test accurately predicted when members of a family with inherited Alzheimer鈥檚 disease would begin to show symptoms. Inherited Alzheimer鈥檚 is rare genetic disease. Using this very defined patient population we were able to identify affected family members over a decade before they began to show cognitive impairments.鈥�

There is hope that the blood test will eventually be useful for a wider range of people who may be at risk of the common form of older-onset Alzheimer鈥檚 disease known as 鈥榮poradic鈥�, as well as those with the genetic version.

Neurofilament light, or NfL, is a crucial building block of brain cells. When these cells start to die in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, traumatic brain injury or other neurodegenerative diseases, this building block is released into the blood stream.

The data showed that when patients converted from pre-symptomatic disease to having clear cognitive and memory decline, NfL built up in the blood at the fastest rate.

鈥淣fL levels rise whenever the brain is damaged, and as Alzheimer鈥檚 disease affects 30% of people over the age of 80, we hope that NfL will become part of a GP鈥檚 standard battery, like annual cholesterol testing. We would send patients off for more specific Alzheimer鈥檚 tests if the results come back showing a cause for concern,鈥� Professor Masters said.

If a patient is identified as being in the early phase of the disease, they could be referred to a pharmacological clinical trial, make diet and lifestyle modifications and be placed on existing medications in the hope of slowing down disease progression.

Next steps for the test include replicating the results in sporadic Alzheimer鈥檚 disease patients, who are older and often have other health issues. The聽Australian Imaging Biomarker and Lifestyle (AIBL)聽patient samples will be used to validate these test results.

The study,聽Serum neurofilament dynamics predicts neurodegeneration and clinical progression in pre-symptomatic Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease, was published this month in聽.

Image credit: 漏stock.adobe.com/au/Bulat