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Science Weekly

Is there hope on the horizon for patients with Alzheimer’s?

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.21K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A trial is under way to find out if a £100 blood test could transform the way that the NHS diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia and diagnosis is currently costly and time-consuming. To find out how this blood test could benefit patients, Ian Sample talks to Prof Jonathan Schott, who is co-leading the trial. He explains what the test involves and why it could pave the way for exciting new treatments for the devastating disease. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is The Guardian.

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Includes one thing.

1:22.7

Dealer. And one thing dealer and spiders and spiders lowly young the brand new album right Out now. Forgetting items. Forgetting items, forgetting dates, forgetting details, word-finding difficulties, getting lost.

1:26.6

Many of us will experience memory issues as we get older, and for some, these will be an early

1:33.6

sign of dementia, a syndrome that nearly 60 million people live with worldwide.

1:39.7

The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease.

1:43.8

And this progresses over time to affect other aspects of cognitive functions,

1:49.2

problems with high-level vision, with using complex objects, for example, remote controls,

1:55.2

dealing with calculation and spelling, and over time there is increasing dependency.

2:01.7

Jonathan Schott is professor of Neurology at the University College London Dementia Research Centre.

2:08.0

Researchers like him have sought to understand the underlying drivers of Alzheimer's for decades.

2:14.2

Its heart is the build-up of some abnormal proteins within the brain, and these proteins are called beta-ameloid and phosphorylated tau. And those are the sort of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. But despite being one of the most common illnesses in the world, diagnosing the condition is a difficult process that can take years, leaving patients

2:36.5

and their families in agonising limbo.

...

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