A paper published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Feb 2026) by DPUK's Shivani Suresh et al. indicates that diagnostic blood tests could be impactful in settings with low health resources, notably in countries which have fewer medical facilities. Her systematic review looked at 3 blood biomarkers and synthesised 13 recent studies. It notes that blood biomarkers can be more scalable than PET and CSF, and could significantly increase access to biomarker-supported diagnoses. This increased accessibility can ‘democratise’ diagnosis as it can be used in LMICs where currently 60% of people with dementia live.
Blood Biomarkers can widen access to dementia diagnosis in less well resourced settings
16 February 2026
The World Alzheimer Report 2019 said there will be around 152 million people with dementia globally by 2050, with the greatest increase in lower and middle-income countries, where populations continue to grow. Blood biomarkers are highly accessible for use in diagnosis, and there is very strong potential for them to be valuable in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where they can be scalable and extend accurate diagnosis.
