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Australia

"Promising blood test for Alzheimer's"

Source: ABC News Online

Published: 04 Apr 2012

Category: Diagnostic Test

Rating: (2 stars)

Keywords: alzheimer's blood test newcastle research

what they said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

Newcastle researchers have shown the potential of a simple blood test to identify the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease in people, before symptoms appear.

The original article can be found at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-03/promising-blood-test-for-alzheimer27s/3928838

how did it rate? (more information)

Criteria	Rating
Total Score	3 of 9
Availability of Test	Not Satisfactory (?)
Novelty of Test	Satisfactory (?)
Diagnostic Options	Satisfactory (?)
Disease Mongering	Satisfactory (?)
Evidence	Not Satisfactory (?)
Quantification of diagnostic accuracy and benefits	Not Satisfactory (?)
Potential harms of Testing	Not Satisfactory (?)
Costs of Testing	Not Satisfactory (?)
Sources of Information	Not Satisfactory (?)
Relies on Press Release	Not Applicable

what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

This story fails to address an important aspect of this potential new test. That is the possible harms of testing for risk of Alzheimer's when there is no definite treatment. It's not clear what a person is supposed to do with a positive result and the information could cause significant anxiety or inappropriate responses.

Although the cost is unknown, as the new test measures up to 200 proteins it is likely to be much more expensive than conventional tests that measure one component so cost should be mentioned.

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