A German study has found a simple blood test could predict if a patient will develop Alzheimer’s, up to 16 years before symptoms appear.
Researchers believe a rise in the levels of a protein in the blood called neurofilament light chain, could be an early sign of the disease, as the protein is a marker which gives an indication of nerve cell loss in the brain.
There is currently no effective treatment for the disease, or test to conclusively determine whether someone will contract it, but researchers believe the test will be very important for more clinical studies.