At-home blood and brain tests could identify dementia risk earlier

A finger prick blood test combined with online brain testing - all done from home - could one day effectively identify people's risk of developing dementia, according to a new study.

Led by the University of Exeter and published in Nature Communications, the study found that the level of proteins linked to dementia which were measured in the postal blood test were linked to performance on a series of brain tests.

Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Exeter Biomedical Research Centre, the research concludes that at-home testing could be a way to identify people at highest risk of dementia, who could then be prioritised for further testing, treatment and support. It could also identify people at low risk who could be given assurance, as well as those with moderate risk who may benefit from monitoring and guidance on reducing their risk in future.

Professor Anne Corbett, of the University of Exeter Medical School, led the research, and said: "Our previous research has shown that a finger-prick blood test can effectively be taken at home and posted to labs, and that we can identify the biomarkers in blood linked to dementia. This new study builds on that to show that we can link these biomarkers with performance on brain tests, giving us a potential way to predict risk of dementia.