Amyloid blood biomarker detects Alzheimer’s disease prior to clinical onset

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the principal cause of dementia and impacts nearly 50 million people worldwide (1). This neurodegenerative disorder of the brain manifests as progressive loss of memory and decline in cognitive function, which may span three to twenty years. Currently diagnosis is based on clinical assessment using a standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (2), which may be supported by further tests, when available, including analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and/or imaging of the brain by positron-emission tomography (PET) to quantify alterations in particular biomarkers (3).