An Early Test for Alzheimer's

SHOULD YOU BE allowed to take a blood test that could tell you if you’re already at risk of Alzheimer’s disease? Last year, Quest Diagnostics began offering a consumer-initiated blood test for $399 (not covered by insurance) that detects the buildup of proteins associated with the development of Alzheimer’s in customers’ plasma.

Under pressure from other biomarker researchers and the Alzheimer’s Association, Quest no longer offers its test to consumers. But other such tests are poised to come to the consumer market.

Prior to the advent of the new blood biomarker tests, clunky and expensive brain scans and spinal taps could confirm an Alzheimer’s diagnosis only after a person was already experiencing the cognitive symptoms of the illness. The new biomarker tests can alert users to their risk as much as 10 years before symptom onset.