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This Alzheimer's blood test, PrecivityAD2, is based on the p-tau217 biomarker. In one recent study, people very high p-tau217 had a 38% chance of progressing t
by brandonb 2mo ago
This Alzheimer's blood test, PrecivityAD2, is based on the p-tau217 biomarker.
In one recent study, people very high p-tau217 had a 38% chance of progressing to cognitive impairment within 5 years vs 12% for those with low levels. The current tests cost about $200-300, so they're not unreasonable as a screening test. PrecivityAD2 looks to be priced around $1,400-$1,500 so at that price, this specific test likely only makes sense for people with established disease.
- vintermann 2mo agoThat sounds pretty expensive for me for a test with that low accuracy, especially when there's not much you can do different if it comes back high vs. coming back low.
- simmerup 2mo agoI guess you can start spending your retirement money faster
- ButlerianJihad 2mo agoThe sad fact is that some people really should. Many people find it far easier to be or become indigent and fall on Medicaid services. If you do not qualify for Medicaid, then there is a real possibility that your insurance carrier will help put you or your caregivers into massive debt for a long-term illness like this. If you do go into long-term care, Medicaid will probably seize your assets to help pay for everything. For example, a house in your name. They'll use those to pay back what they paid for your care. So if you're gonna get sick and you're gonna be a burden in your old age, best to plan for leaving this world the way you came in: naked and penniless.
- reenorap 2mo agoI know it’s a joke but then you’ll leave your family bearing the burden of your care. As someone whose parents had dementia, finding a place that treats your parents with dignity is extremely expensive and very rare. We were spending 12k/month and even we needed to set up camera’s and my sister slept with my mom and took care of her like a nurse. When the pandemic hit my sister couldn’t enter so every morning they took my mom, clothed her and sat her facing the bathroom all day long. The only other alternative is some sort of mental hospital which is more like a prison than anything else.
- 1234letshaveatw 2mo agoNo, a Medicaid funded care facility is the alternative
- simmerup 2mo agoHopefully by the time i’m there euthanasia will be legal
- brandonb 2mo agoAgreed that we can't do as much as we'd like. There are some general health things that are believed to prevent cognitive decline, such as managing cholesterol, HbA1c, blood pressure, sleep apnea, etc. One phrase I've heard is that cholesterol at age 50 predicts cognitive health at age 70. But hopefully we'll start to have more options and wider approvals for things like anti-amyloid drugs.
- pokot0 2mo agoif cholesterol predicted future cognitive health we wouldn’t need dedicated tests, do we?
- xattt 2mo ago> anti-amyloid drugs Isn’t the viewpoint in the last decade that amyloid plaques are likely a finding rather than the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s Disease?
- btilly 2mo agoThat's the viewpoint of everyone sensible outside of Alzheimer's research. Those in it are still throwing billions per year at the idea. Meanwhile, back in reality, no amyloid-beta drug has had any clinical effect in humans, other than reducing the plaques. But both the shingles and RSV vaccines are proven to reduce Alzheimer's risk.
- isolli 2mo ago
- gwbas1c 2mo agoFrom TFA: > Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease is important since the first treatments capable of slowing the progression of the neurodegenerative disease recently became available to patients, and these drugs are more effective when started sooner rather than later. Other promising investigational drugs are in the pipeline. A very good friend's wife had Alzheimer's caught early, and the medication she's on stopped its progression. It's much better for her than my family members who had no treatment options.
- anjel 2mo agoCreatine supplementation is showing some promising indications of being a low cost, mild to moderate intervention https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-brain/202505/new-research-on-creatine-monohydrate-for-alzheimers-disease https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-brain/202...
- AppleBananaPie 2mo agoWhether this ends up being replicated or not, I love the classic gym bro supplement being studied for its potential benefits to the brain. What a time to be alive
- Alex3917 1mo agoIt's going to be replicated because we already know the mechanism of action. That said, many/most people would probably be better off solving the problem more upstream via whatever B-complex vitamins they need based on their bloodwork and DNA methylation variants.
- someothherguyy 2mo agoI definitely wouldn't be sharing that as evidence of anything much at all Google scholar link for the article https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=10296105574478709141&hl=en&as_sdt=0,33 https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=10296105574478709...
- someothherguyy 2mo ago
- cj 2mo agoIt sounds similar to Lipoprotein(a) blood test for cardiac risk. It's (almost) purely determined by genetics. You can't do anything to improve it, other than to improve every other cardiac related risk factor. (There are some experimental drugs in the pipeline, though)
- kurthr 2mo agoThere is an oral PCSK9 treatment (enlicitide) was recently released that provides a 30% reduction, and of course you can't get insurance coverage without the test. And there are 2 drugs with 90%+ reduction in Lp(a) in phase3 trials with expected release in 2027-8, in particular Olpasiran.
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- vogu66 2mo agodo you have the reference for that one? I'd be interested in reading it.
- FL33TW00D 2mo agoSeems like a no brainer for hetero/homozygous APOE4 folks.
- Pawenniag 2mo agoThat price difference seems like the key point. A $200 test can plausibly be used to decide who should get further workup; a $1500 test is already competing with the cost of the workup itself
- criddell 2mo agoFrom a medical perspective, what's the point of the initial test or the workup though? Is it just to check a box? If it comes back positive you will be told to exercise, eat well, take sleep seriously, and manage cholesterol. If it comes back negative you will be told to do the same things. I've seen up close what dying with these kinds of illnesses look like. For me, a positive test would be a sign that it may be time to say my goodbyes and plan my exit.
- nemomarx 2mo agoI do think telling you to get your affairs in order and to arrange for hospice care is probably good for the doctors. They don't want a family coming in with a sudden decline case and all the information about how to pay for it lost, at minimum
- ricksunny 2mo agoepistemics asks how many different hypotheses besides p-tau217 levels were tested before arriving at the specified spread.
- tantalor 2mo agoAre you suggesting that these research scientists don't understand basic statistics?
- ricksunny 2mo agoWhile I’ve nothing to say about these research scientists in particular, knowing precisely nothing about them, it wouldn’t be the first time that so-called ‘bonafide’ research scientists made a statistical boo-boo, even one structural to the research thesis than any sort of math error. Given the widely-reported extent of p-hacking in the biomedical literature over the decades, I’m surprised anyone would float an avid ‘but how could research scientists ever be wrong’ default reflex.
- tantalor 1mo agoI can get behind "trust but verify" approach here.
- avgDev 2mo agoWe can also test for PSEN1, which is 100% accurate in determining early onset alzheimer's disease, quite a it more expensive, so unreasonable as a screening tool unfortunately.
- brianleb 2mo agoI am skeptical of 100% anything, so did some looking: >>Mutations in PSEN1 and APP are associated with complete penetrance, meaning that all individuals who have a PSEN1 or APP mutation will develop AD if they live a normal lifespan [1] and >>[Age-of-onset] Usually 40s or early 50s (range 30s-early 60s) [2] Note that this is only for early-onset Alzheimer's, representing ~5% of all Alzheimer's. >>Our study showed that the rate of EOAD in AD is 5.5%, not 1-2% as usually demonstrated. And our results indicated that the rate in developed countries was relative higher than in developing countries [3] [1]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3326653/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3326653/ [2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1161/table/alzheimer.T.earlyonset_familial_alzheime/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1161/table/alzheimer.T... [3]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4356853/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4356853/