Chosun University Researchers Demonstrate Possibility of Predicting Dementia Onset 10 Years in Advance with Blood Test

Chosun University campus.

Chosun University announced on January 20 that the Gwangju Dementia Cohort Research Group (Department of Biomedical Science, Chosun University) has demonstrated the foundation for the possibility of early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (dementia) up to ten years before onset.

Recently, the US FDA approved, for the first time in the world, a diagnostic method for Alzheimer’s disease that utilizes p-Tau217, a trace component in the blood. As a result, highly accurate diagnoses are now possible with a simple blood test. However, for patients who already exhibit symptoms, significant brain damage has often already occurred, which limits the effectiveness of treatment. Therefore, predicting and preventing the disease at the stage when there are no dementia symptoms in healthy individuals has been suggested as the best treatment approach.

The Gwangju Dementia Cohort Research Group at Chosun University has offered a clue to solving this challenge. Over the past 13 years, the research team has conducted primary precision medical examinations on more than 20,000 elderly individuals aged 60 and above to identify high-risk groups for dementia. Focusing on these high-risk individuals, they have repeatedly conducted cognitive function tests, brain imaging, and blood tests, building long-term follow-up data over more than ten years. The core achievement of this research is the systematic accumulation of annual blood samples and clinical data from high-risk groups with beta-amyloid buildup in the brain, a known cause of dementia.

Lee Gunho, head of the Gwangju Dementia Cohort Research Group, stated, "By integrating the p-Tau217 test with various other blood-based biomarkers, we have confirmed the possibility of predicting dementia onset up to ten years in advance with approximately 90% accuracy. If this early prediction blood test for dementia is incorporated into health screenings for individuals at the transitional age of 60, it could become a practical national health strategy that simultaneously enables dementia prevention and reduces the burden of social healthcare costs at relatively low expense."

This paper has been published in the internationally renowned journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, presenting the possibility of a paradigm shift in medicine toward early prediction and prevention of dementia.