第2282期:New Blood Tests Help Doctors Identify Alzheimer’s Disease

The findings suggest the blood tests may be more helpful for general care doctors. They see many more cases of people with memory problems than specialists do. However, general care doctors have fewer diagnostic tools.

研究结果表明，血液检测对全科医生可能更有帮助。他们接触到的记忆问题患者比专家多得多。然而，全科医生的诊断工具较少。

In the study, patients who visited either a general care doctor or a specialist for memory problems got an early diagnosis using traditional exams. They gave blood for testing and got confirmatory spinal taps or brain scans. 

在这项研究中，前往全科医生或专家就记忆问题就诊的患者，通过传统检查获得了早期诊断。他们进行了血液测试，并接受了确认性的脊髓穿刺或脑部扫描。 

Blood testing is far more accurate, Lund University researchers reported recently at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia. They said that the primary care doctors’ first diagnosis was 61 percent accurate and the specialists’ first diagnosis 73 percent. However, the blood test was 91 percent accurate, their study showed. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study. 

隆德大学的研究人员最近在费城的阿尔茨海默病协会国际会议上报告说，血液检测的准确性远远更高。他们表示，全科医生的初次诊断准确率为61%，而专家的初次诊断准确率为73%。然而，血液检测的准确率为91%，他们的研究显示。《美国医学会杂志》发布了这项研究。 

Dr. John Hsiao of the National Institute on Aging said the new tests measure different biomarkers in different ways. 

国家衰老研究所的约翰·萧博士表示，新检测以不同的方式测量不同的生物标志物。

Doctors and researchers should only use blood tests proven to have a greater than 90 percent accuracy rate, said Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer Maria Carrillo.

阿尔茨海默病协会首席科学官玛丽亚·卡里略表示，医生和研究人员应该只使用准确率超过90%的血液检测。 

Carrillo and Hsiao agreed that the blood tests most likely to provide that accuracy measure what is called p-tau217. Schindler helped lead an unusual direct comparison of several kinds of blood tests that came to the same finding. The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health financed the work. 

卡里略和萧博士一致认为，最有可能提供这种准确性的血液检测是测量所谓的p-tau217。辛德勒帮助领导了一项不寻常的直接比较几种血液检测的工作，得出了相同的结论。国家卫生研究院基金会资助了这项工作。 

That kind of test measures a form of tau that correlates with how much plaque buildup someone has, Schindler explained. A high level signals a strong likelihood the person has Alzheimer’s. A low level strongly suggests Alzheimer’s is not the cause of a patient’s thinking problems. 

这种测试测量一种tau蛋白形式，这种形式与个人的淀粉样斑块积累量相关，辛德勒解释说。高水平表明该人患阿尔茨海默病的可能性很大。低水平则强烈暗示阿尔茨海默病不是导致患者思维问题的原因。 

Several companies are developing p-tau217 tests. 

几家公司正在开发p-tau217测试。 

In the United States, only doctors can order the blood tests from labs. The Alzheimer’s Association is working on policy suggestions and several companies plan to seek FDA approval, which would clarify correct use. 

在美国，只有医生可以从实验室订购血液检测。阿尔茨海默病协会正在制定政策建议，几家公司计划申请FDA批准，以明确正确使用方法。 

For now, Carrillo said doctors should use blood testing only in people with memory problems, after checking the accuracy of the kind they order. 

目前，卡里略表示，医生应仅在检查了所订购血液检测的准确性后，对记忆问题患者使用血液检测。 

Especially for primary care physicians, “it really has great potential to help them in sorting out who to give a reassuring message and who to send on to memory specialists,” said Dr. Sebastian Palmqvist of Lund University. Palmqvist led the Swedish study with Lund’s Dr. Oskar Hansson. 

隆德大学的塞巴斯蒂安·帕尔姆奎斯特博士表示，对于全科医生来说，“这确实有很大的潜力，帮助他们判断谁需要安抚性信息，谁需要转诊给记忆专家。”帕尔姆奎斯特博士与隆德大学的奥斯卡·汉松博士共同领导了这项瑞典研究。