Japan approves blood test kit to detect Alzheimer’s as breakthrough therapy round the corner

Japan, with the world’s highest ratio of elderly, has about six million people with dementia. - dpa

TOKYO (Bloomberg): Japan approved one of the world’s first blood test kit to detect signs of Alzheimer’s disease, paving way for a simpler and speedier diagnosis of the brain-wasting ailment for which a blockbuster therapy is finally on the horizon.

Sysmex Corp.’s diagnostic product that measures amyloid beta in the blood - an abnormal protein that jams nerve cells in the brain and is a marker of Alzheimer’s - was authoriSed for use by Japan’s health ministry, the Kobe-based firm said in a statement Thursday (Dec 22).