People can buy a blood test to check their levels of beta amyloid — a protein that’s known to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. They can go directly to a Quest lab for bloodwork; the company’s doctors will review the results.
The AD-Detect, a product of Quest, costs $399, and is available for sale at questhealth.com. It’s available to general consumers, so anyone can purchase the test. It uses the same technology as the AD-Detect Amyloid Beta 42/40 Ratio test, which came out last year and is for doctors to use.
“One of the advantages of having an amyloid test is that it lets you know, potentially years in advance of even being symptomatic, that you are at risk for Alzheimer’s,” Michael Racke, Quest’s medical director of neurology, told Reuters.
The test is for adults over 18 who have mild memory loss or a family member with Alzheimer’s disease.
To do the test, people first pay for it on the company’s website. After that, then the company will set up a telehealth visit so the doctor can officially order the test. The actual blood draw is done at a Quest Diagnostics lab. If the results are positive, a doctor from an independent network will share the results directly with the patient. People also get results in the company’s patient portal, so it’s easy to share with their primary care doctors as well.
“Blood tests like AD-Detect hold incredible potential to make Alzheimer’s disease risk assessment both accessible and convenient,” Racke said in a statement.
The test joins others for detecting Alzheimer’s disease proteins including PrecivityAD and the Simoa pTau-181 tests.
The news about the Quest amyloid beta protein test comes after news that researchers are working to create a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease that could be done via a finger prick instead of a vein-based blood draw.
