News
What's happening in Alzheimer's care, research funding, and treatment — summarized simply, each item linked to the original reporting.
Free to read, “May need a subscription” and “Archived copy”: what they mean
Whether an article is free to read is a guess, not a test of your access. Each item is one of three:
- No label: free to read (303 of 347). The publisher’s page marks it free, or the outlet publishes free to read: Medical Xpress, ScienceDaily, NIH (incl. NIA and PMC), Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's News Today, NPR, Alzheimer's Disease International, or a .gov site.
- May need a subscription (11 of 347). The publisher’s own page marks the article as not free to read, or — when the page says nothing — the outlet sells subscriptions: The New York Times, STAT, Scientific American, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Wired, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Times, The Telegraph, New Scientist, Endpoints News, Science. Each badge says which.
- “Free to read? Not known” (33 of 347). The outlet is on neither list and its page said nothing. We do not call these paywalled.
Archived copy links go to a copy the Internet Archive (web.archive.org) saved, dated the day it was saved. We show one only where the Internet Archive reported a working saved copy when we checked; an archived copy of a subscription article sometimes shows only its opening. 265 of 347 items have one.
A simple blood test could reveal Alzheimer’s risk 10 years before symptoms
A major international study found that a simple blood test could help predict Alzheimer’s-related cognitive decline years before symptoms appear, with the highest-risk individuals facing a 38% chance of impairment within five years and an estimated 78% chance within 10 years. …
New blood test can detect changes associated with Alzheimer's disease
Brain changes associated with Alzheimer's disease can be detected by a new type of blood test -- and a growing number of patients are asking their doctors about it.
Read at NPR →Nearly 75% of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had CTE, analysis estimates
A new study led by Boston University researchers estimates that nearly 75% of all NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) neuropathology. …
Read at Medical Xpress →Added antibody step improves the reliability of Alzheimer's blood tests
Researchers at University Medicine Halle have developed a new method that could improve the reliability of blood tests for Alzheimer's disease. Current commercial tests often rely on the protein biomarker p-tau217, whose levels can rise in the early stages of the disease. …
Read at Medical Xpress →Two-step blood-test approach helps clarify uncertain brain amyloid status
Blood-based biomarkers (BBMs) are blood tests that can detect Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain changes earlier, more cheaply and more easily than traditional methods such as Aβ-PET scans, which are expensive and have limited accessibility. …
Read at Medical Xpress →Search for Alzheimer's drug unexpectedly finds possible biomarker
Researchers developed a drug for Alzheimer's disease and then discovered that the molecule already exists in human blood and is found at lower levels in cognitively impaired people. Now the authors are exploring the peptide as a biomarker as well as a treatment.
Read at Medical Xpress →Alzheimer's blood biomarker tracks brain amyloid similarly across racial groups, study finds
A large global study provides new evidence supporting the use of blood biomarkers in an Alzheimer's clinical trial to screen for elevated brain amyloid levels among potential participants who are cognitively unimpaired. …
Read at Medical Xpress → Archived copy (13 Oct 2026), Internet ArchiveRoutine blood test may suggest future dementia risk
A common blood test already carried out during routine health checks may contain clues about a person's long-term risk of dementia, according to research being presented at the ECNP Congress in Munich and published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
Read at Medical Xpress → Archived copy (12 Oct 2026), Internet ArchiveDietary patterns linked to favorable blood biomarkers relevant to aging
Researchers have long known that diet plays an important role in health later in life, but the biological mechanisms underlying these associations are not yet fully understood. …
Read at Medical Xpress → Archived copy (29 Sep 2026), Internet ArchiveFDA Clears C2N Diagnostics' PrecivityAD2 — First Alzheimer's Blood Test for Adults With Cognitive Symptoms as Young as 40
The FDA cleared C2N Diagnostics' PrecivityAD2 mass-spectrometry blood test for adults as young as 40 with signs of cognitive impairment, showing 97.6% positive predictive value and 93.1% negative predictive value for amyloid pathology in a 1,142-person study.
Why it matters: Extends FDA-cleared blood testing to younger patients with early symptoms, broadening options beyond the Fujirebio test and expanding access to earlier, less invasive diagnosis.
Free to read? Not known for this outlet.
Read at C2N Diagnostics (via BioSpace) → Archived copy (7 Oct 2026), Internet ArchiveA Simple Blood Test Could Detect Alzheimer's Earlier, But Medicare Doesn't Cover It
Medicare currently pays for Alzheimer's blood biomarker tests only after a patient already shows cognitive decline symptoms, not for pre-symptomatic screening, leaving out-of-pocket costs and geographic PET-scan deserts (e.g., Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas) as barriers, especially for lower-income patients.
Why it matters: Illustrates the real-world coverage gap the ASAP Act aims to close and quantifies dementia's cost burden on Medicare, already about 20% of Medicare spending and projected to reach one in three dollars by 2050.
Free to read? Not known for this outlet.
Read at Association of Health Care Journalists → Archived copy (3 Apr 2026), Internet ArchiveSimple blood test can forecast Alzheimer’s years before memory loss
Scientists have created a blood test that can estimate when Alzheimer’s symptoms are likely to begin. By measuring a protein called p-tau217, the model predicts symptom onset within roughly three to four years. …
Researchers explore new diagnostic tools, genetic roots for early-onset dementia
Researchers at the new Center for Brain Health at UT Health San Antonio are studying midlife testing for early-onset dementia with blood-based biomarkers to see if they can detect disease activity up to 20 years before symptoms appear.
Why it matters: Midlife blood-based biomarker testing is being studied to see if it can detect early-onset dementia activity up to 20 years before symptoms appear.
Read at Medical Xpress → Archived copy (27 Jan 2026), Internet ArchiveA simple blood test could change how Alzheimer's is diagnosed
A blood test, combined with an ultrathin material derived from graphite, could significantly advance efforts to detect Alzheimer's disease at its very earliest stage, even before symptoms appear.
Why it matters: Combining a blood test with an ultrathin graphite-derived material could advance efforts to detect Alzheimer's disease before symptoms appear.
Read at Medical Xpress →Plasma p-tau217 can reliably detect preclinical Alzheimer disease
Plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) can reliably detect Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology in the preclinical stage, according to a meta-analysis published online Dec. 1 in JAMA Neurology.
Why it matters: Plasma phosphorylated tau 217 can reliably detect Alzheimer disease pathology in the preclinical stage, according to a meta-analysis.
Simple blood test may someday allow for diagnosis of LATE dementia during life
Jijing Wang, Ph.D., and Hyun-Sik Yang, MD, of the Department of Neurology at Mass General Brigham, are the lead and senior authors of a paper published in Molecular Neurodegeneration titled "Plasma TDP-43 is a potential biomarker for advanced limbic-predominant…
Why it matters: A simple blood test measuring plasma TDP-43 may someday enable doctors to diagnose advanced LATE dementia during a patient's life.
Read at Medical Xpress → Archived copy (21 Nov 2025), Internet ArchiveFDA Clears First Blood Test Used in Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease
The FDA granted 510(k) clearance to Fujirebio's Lumipulse G pTau217/Beta-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio test, the first blood test cleared to help diagnose Alzheimer's in adults 55 and older with signs of cognitive decline. In FDA's review, positive results correctly identified amyloid plaques 91.7% of the time and negative results correctly ruled them out 97.3% of the time.
Why it matters: A simple blood draw can now help identify amyloid plaques without a spinal tap or PET scan, potentially speeding diagnosis and lowering costs, though FDA stressed it isn't a stand-alone diagnostic test.
Read at FDA → Archived copy (10 Oct 2026), Internet ArchiveQuest Diagnostics Launches New AD-Detect Blood Test to Aid in Confirming Alzheimer's Disease
Quest Diagnostics launched a new AD-Detect Abeta42/40 and p-tau217 blood test nationwide (except New York), combining two biomarkers into a proprietary 'Likelihood Score' that showed about 89% positive/negative predictive values in studies presented at the 2025 AAN meeting.
Why it matters: Expands commercial, direct-to-clinician access to blood-based Alzheimer's biomarker testing through one of the largest U.S. lab networks, at lower cost than PET scans or spinal taps.
Free to read? Not known for this outlet.
Read at Quest Diagnostics → Archived copy (17 Apr 2026), Internet ArchiveFollow new items in a feed reader: Atom feed.