IBM Research Open Doors For Early Detection Of Alzheimer Through Simple Blood Test

Nearly 44 Million people around the globe are suffering from Alzheimer or dementia according to 2017 Alzheimer’s Statistics published by Alzheimers.net. In India, more than 4 Million people are suffering from the illness, and as per India Ageing Report 2017, it is rising at a fast rate. Diagnosing the symptom before it affects anyone is a key aspect to fight the sickness. There is no foolproof solution that can predict if a person will face such an issue in old age, and start taking necessary precaution before thing turn worse.

But this does not mean there is no hope, thanks to technology things are getting accessible. It seems to be possible to detect Alzheimer log before it can cause permanent damage. Ben Goudey, a researcher at the Genomics Research Team of IBM Research is working on identifying the sickness through blood as per a published research paper.

With the help of machine learning, it is possible to identify a set of proteins in the blood that can predict the concentration of biomarker amyloid-beta (amyloid-β) in spinal fluid. This plays an important role in finding out the beginning of Alzheimer in a patient. In the research with the help of machine learning, it is possible to predict the detection of sickness at the early stages. With the help of this model, it will be possible for doctors to act on time and reduce the damage.

Recent research has shown that a biological marker associated with the disease, a peptide called amyloid-beta, changes long before any memory-related issues are apparent. Examining the concentration of the peptide in an individual’s spinal fluid provides an indication of risk decades before any memory related issues occur. Unfortunately, accessing spinal fluid is highly invasive, requires an anaesthetist and is expensive to conduct on large segments of the population. Hence, there is a strong effort in the research community to develop a less invasive test, such as a blood test, that can yield information about Alzheimer’s disease risk. – IBM Research Blog

The research aim in developing a wide range of blood test for the illness which currently has no cure and the patient requires full-time care to do the daily task. Early diagnosis will help the patient and families together in tracking down the start of sickness and focusing on the right solution.