The partners in the joint project IASON participated in the world’s largest conference on Alzheimer’s disease AAIC, which was originally planned to take place in Amsterdam from 27.7.-31.7.20, but which now had to be conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 28.7.20 the Swedish research group around H. Zetterberg from the University of Gothenburg reported as a world novelty extraordinary progress in the development of blood tests for the very early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

There was general agreement among the scientists that this would enable a “new era in Alzheimer's diagnosis” and that it is already being entered. This is because the data required to predict the future manifestation of Alzheimer's dementia can now be obtained easily from blood samples. As a result, cohort studies of AD disease are now possible for the first time, which allow changes in the relevant parameters of AD progression at close time intervals in a comparatively cost-effective manner. At the same time, examinations that are stressful for the patient, such as lumbar punctures and PET examinations with radioactive tracers, will increasingly fade into the background in the foreseeable future.

First reports on the new blood tests were published on the project homepage  and on ALZFORUM. A short summary was written for the general public on the "End Alzheimer Now" platform. Further information can be found on this homepage under "Updates on the state of the art" under "Blood biomarker".