WASHINGTON (AP) — New blood tests that might predict Alzheimer’s years before symptoms begin may sound tantalizing for people who worry about later-in-life dementia. But doctors say they aren't quite ready yet — and besides, you don’t need a test before trying to lower your risk.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared four blood tests to help doctors diagnose whether Alzheimer’s — not another kind of dementia or something else — is behind someone’s memory problems or other cognitive symptoms. Some laboratories and online services offer their own tests. Faster diagnosis can help people with early-stage Alzheimer’s qualify for drugs that can modestly slow the worsening of their symptoms.
Yet dementia specialists say people without symptoms also seek those tests even though they’re neither approved nor recommended for that population.
For now, “the worried well should not be getting those tests” outside of a research study, stressed testing expert Nicholas Ashton, of Arizona’s Banner Health.
Instead, focus on addressing potentially preventable brain risks. One large study found people who reached middle age without high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking lived dementia-free for a lot longer — nearly 13 years longer — than people with all three of those common health problems in their 50s.
“Be aggressive,” advised Dr. Josef Coresh of NYU Langone Health, the study’s senior author. Even delaying those risky conditions “has a huge payoff.”
Like many people who have watched a loved one succumb to Alzheimer’s, Mark Yost wonders about his own risk even though he doesn’t have symptoms.
“I want to know what my status is,” said Yost, 60, of Phoenix. And if signs of trouble develop, “what I can do about it to either avoid it or slow it down.”
It's not clear what causes Alzheimer's, but its telltale markers are abnormal forms of two proteins. Sticky beta-amyloid can build into brain-clogging plaque over decades, eventually spurring neuron-killing tau tangles that lead to symptoms. Blood tests that measure a tau type called p-tau217 seem particularly good at reflecting amyloid buildup in people with symptoms.
As for the symptom-free, a study led by Mass General Brigham researchers found older adults with very high p-tau217 levels had a 38% risk of developing cognitive impairment within five years, and a higher risk over 10 years.
Here’s the rub: A “positive” test result is just a risk factor, not a guarantee someone will later develop Alzheimer’s, Ashton cautioned. Lots of older adults harbor high levels of amyloid but never show cognitive trouble. And while negative test results seem pretty reliable, a positive test sometimes is wrong, a so-called false positive.
Yost volunteered for a Banner blood test study that included cognitively normal people and learned his result was “intermediate,” defined as maybe having some amyloid but not a worrisome “elevated” level.
Yost found the uncertainty “a little disappointing” and something to watch as he gets older, while pursuing brain-healthy steps like exercise and a mentally stimulating genealogy hobby.
A major trial last year found that healthier habits slowed age-related cognitive decline in older adults who were at increased risk of developing dementia. Among the steps: A half-hour of moderately intense exercise four times a week, twice-weekly resistance training and following the MIND diet, which stresses lots of leafy greens and berries, whole grains, poultry and fish.
Dementia experts also advise getting enough sleep, avoiding social isolation, treating hearing loss and exercising your brain, not just your body. They say middle age is a key time to act.
As for those extra 13 dementia-free years, the NYU study reinforces that what's good for the heart is good for the brain.
Coresh's team analyzed health records of more than 12,000 people who had been tracked for decades since they were, on average, age 56. High blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and smoking can damage blood vessels that feed the brain and fuel inflammation. Those who entered the study without those three problems fared best, but avoiding one or two was helpful. Even people who carry the APOE4 gene, which increases the risk of later-in-life Alzheimer's, still benefited from a healthier middle age.
Other studies also have shown that aggressively treating high blood pressure helps brain health.
“Be very serious with your physician about the value of lowering it as early as possible for as many years as possible,” Coresh said.
As for those Alzheimer's blood tests, stay tuned. Clinical trials are underway to tell if drugs now used to treat Alzheimer's might also help certain people before they develop symptoms — findings that could change testing advice.
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FILE - A doctor points to PET scan results that are part of a study on Alzheimer's disease at Georgetown University Hospital, on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — They have been bickering among themselves for three years now. The best part of it is, nobody really knows who's right, who's wrong and, most importantly, who's going to win whenever they step onto the track to let their running do the talking.
The latest chapter in the most intriguing show in track and field — the men's 1,500 meters — takes place Sunday at the Ultimate Championship, with the winner getting a check for $150,000.
Will it be Josh Kerr, the new mile world-record holder from Scotland?
Or Cole Hocker, the American who barged his way into this conversation with a shocker of a win two years ago at the Paris Olympics?
Or Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian who seems to have an opinion about everything?
Another possible answer is “none of the above,” which, as eighth-ranked Isaac Nader’s win at world championships last year proved, is completely possible in this unpredictable event.
But back to the fighting.
“We have to have an open dialogue and communication on things we feel are right or wrong,” Ingebrigtsen explained Friday night after beating Hocker in the 5,000 meter race that seems like an undercard, even though those two square off there frequently, as well. “And if opening your mouth is creating a war or creating a fight, then that's not my problem.”
Here's a brief timeline of track's best soap opera, starting with the most recent development.
Up until this year, Hocker had mostly been a silent bystander in a feud between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr. That tension was the entire story heading into Paris, and when Hocker barged through on the inside to win the gold medal, everyone was stunned.
But Ingebrigtsen brought Hocker into the fray two weeks ago after a Diamond League race in Brussels, when he confronted him. He called the Americans “cowards,” accusing them of playing games with the pacemakers for the 1,500 meters, which resulted in a slower, more “tactical” race than Ingebrigtsen expected. Neither runner finished on the podium.
Hocker has been trying to move on. Asked after the 5,000 on Friday if he respected Ingebrigtsen or thought Ingebrigtsen respected him, Hocker said “I'm not going to try to guess what he thinks of us.”
“I think everyone on the start line for a global final deserves a lot of respect and you can have opinions on the race and how it goes,” Hocker said.
The disagreement with Hocker came just as Ingebrigtsen's latest flare-up involving Kerr seemed to be dying down.
Kerr passed on the 1,500 this season, which is the distance for most four-lap races in elite track, to pursue the world record in the slightly longer and more iconic mile.
Kerr ran 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds at a Diamond League meet in London in July to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year-old record. He also won the mile at the Commonwealth Games. He did not, however, compete at European Championships, which staged a 1,500-meter race. Ingebrigtsen was not pleased.
“I definitely think it is ruining the sport if we are not participating," he said. "We all have different plans, but I could never see myself in that position.”
Kerr received a special invitation to run the 1,500 this week and extended his season by six weeks to accept.
“Always under criticism,” Kerr said. “What's been fun for me about this process is this is still an individual sport. It's not a sport where we're forced into certain racing strategies. Every person's different and every athlete's different in the way they approach the season.”
Funny enough, a lot of the history between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr began on the very track they're set to run on Sunday night.
At the 2023 world championships in Budapest, much was made of Ingebrigtsen's gesturing to the fans as he hit the homestretch in a semifinal and then, almost casually, cruising past Kerr to finish first.
Kerr got the last laugh three nights later when he won the final. Ingebrigtsen blamed it on being sick, which annoyed some people who felt that took away from Kerr's breakthrough victory.
In the ensuing year, the two bickered back and forth about a handful of issues, but mostly over what Kerr said was Ingebrigtsen's need to use pacemakers, which are not allowed in major championships.
Ingebrigtsen insisted that wasn't the case and that, in most races, he was the pacemaker. Kerr suggested Ingebrigtsen's Olympic title at 1,500 meters in 2021 came courtesy of Timothy Cheruiyot, who was racing to win but served as a pacemaker of sorts, holding the lead for much of the race before dropping to second.
Lost somewhere was that Ingebrigtsen's win Friday night in the 5,000 — his better race over the years — was nothing short of remarkable. It came with limited training in the aftermath of surgery in February to remove built-up scar tissue on his left Achilles. A World Athletics pre-race statistical analysis predicted he'd come in 12th.
“So much to prove,” Ingebrigtsen said. “What more can I do?”
His brother, Henrik, also marveled at Jakob's ability to bounce back and get to the point where he could win against the best field of the year.
Yet, as Jakob left the track Friday, it was no sure thing he'd be on the starting line for Sunday and the 1,500, which he insists is his favorite race, even if it has caused its share of heartache over the years.
Ingebrigtsen hasn't won a 1,500 in a major outdoor championship since the Tokyo Games.
“He's nowhere near the shape of Josh Kerr and those other guys, they're in the shape of their life,” Henrik said. "It would be really fun to see how close he could get with his limited shape.”
Kerr thinks it would be fun, too.
“He’s one of the best 1500-meter, 5K runners of all time and I’m excited to go out and race him,” Kerr said. “I’m not going to lose, but I’m excited to go out there and race.”
See AP’s full sports coverage here
Josh Kerr of Britain poses on the red carpet during the formal opening of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, of Norway, celebrates winning the men's 5,000 meters final during the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
