"Diseases like Alzheimers start years even decades before the first symptoms of memory loss shows up. And with rates of those diseases rising experts say that more primary care physiciansnot neurology expertswill have the task of identifying these patients early so they can take advantage of whatever early interventions might be available. If we had a simple blood test a cholesterol test for Alzheimers disease that would help says Dr. Ronald Petersen director of the Alzheimers Disease Research Center at the Mayo Clinic but we dont. But Petersen has a potential solution and according to a new paper released Wednesday in the journal Neurology httpneurology.orglookupdoi.WNL. his Alzheimers test has promise. Petersen and his team wanted to develop a test that any physician can administer to patients without the need for any new technology or expensive equipment. Petersen believes that the test they came up with could become a useful tool for any physician even those without special training in the brain. What we are trying to do is give them some help so they can be as efficient as possible without ignoring these important cognitive issues he says. In the first phase of the test his researchers simply collected information from  patients medical chartstheir age family history of Alzheimers factors such as diabetes or smoking that have been linked to Alzheimers and whether the patient had ever reported problems with memory. In the next phase they studied the results of the patients basic mental exam as well as of a psychiatric evaluation because depression and anxiety have been connected to Alzheimers. And another factor that emerged as important in developing the diseasehow quickly the participant could walk a short distance. We were a little surprised says Petersen. But whats nice about it is that its a nice noncognitive motor factor so its looking at another aspect of brain function. MORE This Alzheimers Breakthrough Could Be a Game Changer httptime.comthisalzheimersbreakthroughcouldbeagamechanger Petersen suggests that every physician should get this information on their patients at age  that way they can have a baseline against which to compare any changes as their patients age. Only if they show such changes  a slower walk for example or worsening signs of depression or memory issues  should they move on to the third phase of the test which is a blood analysis. That would look for known genetic factors linked to Alzheimers including the presence of certain versions of the ApoE gene. Currently the only way to truly separate out those on the road to Alzheimers is to conduct expensive imaging tests of the brain or to do a spinal tap an invasive procedure that extracts spinal fluid for signs of the amyloid protein that builds up in the disease. We have either expensive techniques or invasive techniques and its not practical to do them from a public health screening standpoint says Petersen. MORE New Test May Predict Alzheimers  Years Before Diagnosis httptime.comalzheimersbloodtest While his test is a possible solution to that problem he acknowledges that the results need be repeated before its recommended on a wide scale to physicians across the country. But those who scored higher on the test of risk factors had a sevenfold higher chance of developing mild cognitive impairment than those with lower scores. For now even if doctors identify patients around age  who might be at higher risk of developing cognitive impairment there isnt much they can do to interrupt the process. But they can direct them toward clinical trials of promising new drugs to address Alzheimers dementia which may slow the cognitive decline considerably."