New blood test checks for Alzheimer’s and assesses progression, study says

The researchers found fragments of tau could be detected in blood and correlated with a build-up of tau tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s, but not other diseases. Photograph: Liuhsihsiang/Getty Images

Researchers have developed a blood test for patients with thinking and memory problems to check if they have Alzheimer’s and to see how far it has progressed.

The team behind the work say the test could help medics decide which drugs would be most suitable for patients. For example, new drugs such as donanemab and lecanemab can help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, but only in people in the early stages of the disease.