Scientists from Oxford University developed a simple blood test that can predict whether a person will develop Alzheimer's disease in later life. This test could be helpful for selecting participants in clinical trials aiming to develop treatments for the disease.

"Alzheimer's begins to affect the brain many years before patients are diagnosed (and) many of our drug trials fail because by the time patients are given the drugs the brain has already been too severely affected," said Simon Lovestone, lead author of the study from Oxford University, to Reuters.

Previous research showed that brain scans and lumbar fluid tests can be used to predict the start of dementia in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, these tests were usually too expensive to carry out, and scientists wanted to develop a cheaper, non-invasive way of predicting the risk for dementia and Alzheimer's.

The symptoms for MCI include impaired function affecting language, attention span and short-term memory.

The researchers analyzed the blood samples of 1,148 people, 476 of which have Alzheimer's, 453 have dementia, while 220 have MCI. The blood samples were studied for the presence of 26 proteins linked to Alzheimer's.

The team discovered 16 of these 26 proteins were strongly linked to brain shrinkage, a primary indicator for MCI and Alzheimer's. The team also ran a second test to identify proteins that can be used to predict which patients will develop MCI or Alzheimer's later on.

The second test, equipped with 87 percent accuracy, produced 10 proteins that can foresee whether a person will develop Alzheimer's or MC after a year.

Other researchers in the field were positive about the results of this study but they recommended replicating it in larger proportions to verify the findings.

Further results of this study were published in the July 8 issue of Alzheimer's and Dementia.