Around one in 10 people in the UK aged 70 and over may have brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease, according to the largest population-based study of its kind.
The findings are not a diagnosis, but suggest more than 1 million people could meet NHS clinical criteria for anti-amyloid treatment – far more than previous estimates of about 70,000. The study, published in Nature, analysed blood samples from nearly 11,500 randomly selected people using a new biomarker test that can detect Alzheimer’s-related changes early.
Researchers found the prevalence of these changes rises sharply with age, from under 8% in people in their 50s and 60s to around two-thirds of those over 90. Experts say the results could transform early detection, but warn that current treatments are expensive and not widely available on the NHS.
