DALLAS: A blood test could predict the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s – but will people want to take it?
A simple blood test to find out whether you’re likely to suffer Alzheimer’s disease in future is on the cards, thanks to groundbreaking Kiwi research.
However, Otago University researchers’ discovery of the blood marker has prompted questions over whether people will want to take a test that could give them unpalatable results.
Huntington’s disease, a hereditary condition whose symptoms include progressive dementia, has predictive testing in New Zealand, but only a quarter of those at risk of having the faulty gene choose to get the blood test.
Anita Downey, 43: “I would want to know, definitely. I would try and take some sort of preventative measure, like changing my diet or looking into some kind of treatment. I would tell my family, absolutely. I would tell my husband, but probably not my children because they are young.”
The university study’s lead researcher, Professor Cliff Abraham, said on Wednesday he hoped it would lead to developing a blood test to diagnose Alzheimer’s 10 years or more before someone showed clinical signs of the debilitating neurological disease…