{"id":775911,"date":"2026-07-02T17:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T17:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/775911\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T17:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T17:26:10","slug":"alzheimers-biomarkers-predict-cognitive-decline-in-patients-over-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/775911\/","title":{"rendered":"Alzheimer\u2019s Biomarkers Predict Cognitive Decline in Patients Over 80"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the Sant Pau Research Institute found that Alzheimer\u2019s disease biomarkers<\/a> can predict rapid cognitive decline in individuals aged 80 and older. The study<\/a>, published in Neurology, suggests that identifying underlying pathology provides relevant clinical information even in very old patients with multiple coexisting conditions.<\/p>\n

The findings challenge the belief that biomarkers have limited value at advanced ages. Identifying the biological markers associated with the disease helps clinicians anticipate patient progression more accurately.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot every memory problem after age 80 is normal, and assuming that it is can lead to the underdiagnosis of diseases such as Alzheimer\u2019s,\u201d says Ignacio Ill\u00e1n-Gala<\/a>, researcher with the Neurobiology of Dementias Group at Sant Pau Research Institute and neurologist at Sant Pau Hospital, in a release. \u201cWe need to overcome the influence of ageism in the care of these patients and move toward a more accurate diagnosis, including at advanced ages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diagnostic Accuracy in Older Adults<\/p>\n

Diagnoses based exclusively on clinical assessment are often limited in accuracy for patients over 80. In routine practice, many of these patients are evaluated without biomarkers<\/a>, leading to uncertainty regarding the cause of symptoms. This uncertainty is often due to the high frequency of coexisting neurodegenerative diseases, vascular abnormalities, and other aging-related processes.<\/p>\n

In addition, as age increases, differences in cognitive performance between people with and without Alzheimer\u2019s disease tend to become smaller during early stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cOlder patients often have many coexisting conditions that can impact memory, and relying solely on clinical assessment may lead to inaccurate diagnoses,\u201d says Chiara Ceriello, geriatrician at Sant Pau Hospital and first author of the article, in a release. \u201cIn fact, approximately half of the cases do not correspond to pure Alzheimer\u2019s disease, which means that, without biomarkers, it is difficult to determine what is causing the cognitive decline and to accurately anticipate its progression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biomarkers and Patient Outcomes<\/p>\n

The study analyzed 167 people over age 80 with mild cognitive impairment from the Sant Pau Initiative on Neurodegeneration cohort. Nearly 70% of participants had biology consistent with Alzheimer\u2019s disease, determined by analyzing proteins in cerebrospinal fluid\u2014such as the ratio of p-Tau181 to beta-amyloid\u2014and the blood-based correlate, p-Tau217<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Patients with Alzheimer\u2019s disease biology experienced more rapid cognitive decline than those without evidence of the disease, according to the Mini-Mental State Examination. Those with the biology showed an average decline of 0.47 points per year, compared with 0.18 points per year for those without.<\/p>\n

Higher levels of p-Tau217 were also associated with a greater risk of progressing to dementia, with risk increases approaching 50% depending on biomarker levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs age increases, differences in memory performance between people with and without Alzheimer\u2019s disease tend to become smaller, making the disease more difficult to identify based solely on clinical assessment,\u201d says Ill\u00e1n-Gala, in a release. \u201cHowever, what does differ clearly is the course of the disease: people with this biology have a worse prognosis and more rapid progression of cognitive decline over the medium term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinical Implementation via Blood Tests<\/p>\n

The study highlights the potential for blood-based biomarkers to facilitate diagnosis in geriatric care. Unlike traditional methods like lumbar puncture or positron emission tomography (PET), blood tests<\/a> offer a simpler and more accessible approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe availability of a blood-based biomarker<\/a> makes it much easier to incorporate this assessment into clinical practice, particularly for older patients,\u201d says Ceriello, in a release. \u201cIt allows us to obtain relevant biological information in a simpler and more practical way, and this has a direct impact on how we assess and monitor these patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers note that these biomarkers should be interpreted within the clinical context of the patient, including factors such as frailty, comorbidities, and baseline functional status.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrecision medicine should not have an age limit,\u201d says Ceriello, in a release. \u201cIn well-preserved patients with a good quality of life, knowing whether biomarkers are present can change clinical management, prognosis, and future planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo caption: Dr Chiara Cierello and Dr Ignacio Ill\u00e1n<\/p>\n

Photo credit: IR Sant Pau<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers at the Sant Pau Research Institute found that Alzheimer\u2019s disease biomarkers can predict rapid cognitive decline in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[275197,275198,36537,44332,49,48,27320,74243,7280,275199,275200,84,36709],"class_list":["post-775911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ageism-in-healthcare","tag-alzheimeru2019s-disease","tag-biomarkers","tag-blood-tests","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cerebrospinal-fluid","tag-clinical-assessment","tag-cognitive-decline","tag-diagnostic-accuracy","tag-elderly-patients","tag-health","tag-neurodegenerative-diseases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}