One of the benefits of the blood plasma based test panel, recently announce by the CSIRO on April 30th was as an alternative, or as a preliminary screening to the much more expensive PET scan.
From that release: http://www.csiro.au/Portals/Media/One-step-closer-to-a-blood-test-for-Alzheimers.aspx
"A blood test would be the ideal first stage to help identify many more people at risk before a diagnosis is confirmed with cognitive tests and PET imaging or cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) testing."
At the end of this above actual journal reference there exists a Conflicts of Interest section that states: We declare that Colin L Masters and Ashley I Bush are consultants with Prana Biotechnology. Further, a patent has been filed covering the biomarker algorithm from this work and our institutions may benefit from commercialisation of this patent.
I think Samantha Durham also has filed a patent regarding the blood panel test.
I also have seen some other companies with similar blood-plasma based bio-marker claims so I don't put too much into this yet, but I can see the uncertainty regarding approving the PET scans at this point.
Not to mention, there are legal issues that will need to be worked through because most folks, in the U.S. anyway, would not take the test because if they are determined to have early signs it will likely be used to force them out of their jobs. From that legal standpoint, unless they do something most won't consider taking it till they are retired. Rudy Tanzi has made public mention of this legal issue yet to be resolved surrounding the shift toward early detection and treatment.
And yet another reason why it is so critical for something disease-modifying to come along.
PBT Price at posting:
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