Noted geriatrician urges caution on expanded Alzheimer’s blood testing

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - About 10% of all adults in Maine over the age of 65 are living with Alzheimer’s.

The Maine Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association is pushing for earlier detection of the disease and believes new blood-based biomarker tests can streamline that process.

With an accuracy rate of 90-95%, these blood tests are less invasive and costly than the alternative PET scans or lumbar punctures.

The FDA has approved two biomarker blood tests for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, but only in adults aged 55 and older who are exhibiting signs of cognitive decline.

While advocates hope to eventually expand that access, one local geriatrician is cautioning against it.

Understanding Alzheimer’s progression

“The tests are very, very reliable in detecting Alzheimer’s pathology,” said Dr. Clifford Singer, chief of the Center for Geriatric Cognitive and Mental Health at Northern Light Acadia Hospital.

Singer has studied Alzheimer’s disease for more than 35 years. He said it is important to understand how the disease progresses.

These biomarker blood tests look for an accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, the sign of Alzheimer’s. Singer said those can show up long before symptoms appear.

“It takes years to develop dementia, even when you have Alzheimer’s pathology. So, we don’t want a lot of people getting these tests who may not live long enough to eventually develop dementia. Because it might be 20 years or more before you start developing symptoms and the symptoms progress to dementia,” Singer said.

Singer said he does recommend the blood tests for those who are showing symptoms, particularly those with mild cognitive impairment.

“These are people who are at very high risk of developing dementia. And those people can respond very well to the drugs that we now have available that can effectively remove amyloid plaque from the brain. We can even do it in people who have already transitioned to mild dementia, who can’t necessarily function independently but are still pretty functional,” Singer said.

When asked if everyone will develop some sort of dementia at a certain age, Singer replied no.

“Some people live past 100 and they’re still pretty sharp. They don’t remember as well as they did but they can still remember stuff,” Singer said.

Singer said people can practice good brain health by eating a low inflammatory, plant-based diet, getting plenty of exercise, getting seven or eight hours of sleep every night and staying socially engaged.

Northern Light Health offers a healthy brain aging registry. MAINAH stands for Maine Initiative for Neurologic Aging and Health. It is free to use. Once you sign up, you’ll receive the latest information regarding research on Alzheimer’s and have the opportunity to connect with specialists in the field.

Click here to learn more including how to register for MAINAH.

In case you missed it, here is Part One of this special report.