New tool can distinguish among major neurodegenerative diseases with goal of providing clarity for treatment decisions.
New tool can distinguish among major neurodegenerative diseases with goal of providing clarity for treatment decisions.
Many people living with dementia never receive an accurate diagnosis, in part because Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and related conditions are notoriously difficult to tell apart and often occur together. Now, a new tool based on artificial intelligence and a simple blood draw may provide clarity.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed an AI-based classifier that distinguishes between four common brain diseases that cause dementia: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies, as well as healthy brain aging. The tool can separate these diseases from each other and from typical cognitive changes related to aging with over 90% accuracy and can detect when a patient has more than one disease process occurring simultaneously — a common but clinically difficult situation that can complicate treatment.
Read More: Washington University in St. Louis
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