Blood biomarker may help predict woman's dementia risk 25 years before symptoms: Study

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A study has found that a women's risk of developing dementia may be predicted 25 years before symptoms begin through a test of a blood-based biomarker called 'phosphorylated tau 217' -- a protein linked to the brain changes seen in Alzheimer's disease.

Higher levels of phosphorylated tau 217, or p-tau217, were strongly associated with future mild cognitive impairment and dementia -- of which Alzheimer's disease is the most common form -- among older women who were cognitively healthy at the study's start.

"Our study suggests we may be able to identify women at elevated risk for dementia decades before symptoms emerge," first author Aladdin H. Shadyab, associate professor of public health and medicine at the University of California San Diego, said.