Overview

• The multicentre Nature Medicine study evaluated 1,767 symptomatic adults (mean age ~73) and found high diagnostic accuracy using an automated p‑tau217 assay on the widely available Lumipulse platform.
• The blood biomarker approach could enable scalable screening in primary care, though large‑scale validation and regulatory clearance are still required before routine clinical use.
• Primary‑care constraints hinder early detection, with experts citing limited consultation time, low protocol awareness and specialist shortages; in Euskadi, referrals can take six months plus another six to reach a hospital specialist.
• Mexico faces severe underdiagnosis—estimates suggest up to nine in ten cases are missed—compounded by stigma that keeps patients hidden, a lack of national registries and a caregiving burden that falls largely on women.
• Disease‑modifying monoclonal antibodies such as lecanemab, aducanumab and donanemab show modest slowing of decline (about 27% for lecanemab in early disease) but require infusion capacity and MRI monitoring for safety, increasing the value of earlier, accurate diagnosis.