Several possible studies
Story checked
The Breakthrough Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease (opens in a new tab)
erictopol.substack.com · 2025-04-13
Short answer
Several possible studiesNo clear answer.
More than one paper fits the article's details, and none fits well enough to single out. Checking claims against the wrong study would be worse than not checking them at all.
Checked against the study summary. The full text wasn't available, so some details couldn't be settled either way.
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The story
The Breakthrough Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease
erictopol.substack.com · 2025-04-13
The story’s checkable claims.
Read the original story (opens in a new tab)NewsLink checks it
Several studies could be the source of this story.
More than one paper fits the article's details, and none fits well enough to single out. Checking claims against the wrong study would be worse than not checking them at all.
Open claim evidenceSearch result
Several studies could fit.
More than one paper fits the article's details, and none fits well enough to single out. Checking claims against the wrong study would be worse than not checking them at all.
Source layer
The 5 papers the story cites
Source study separated from background citations.
The research anchor for the report.
- Points somewhere elsepresented as the new finding
Longitudinal plasma p-tau217 is increased in early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Brain : a Journal of Neurology · 2020
- Points somewhere elsepresented as the new finding
Plasma phospho-tau in Alzheimer’s disease: towards diagnostic and therapeutic trial applications
Molecular Neurodegeneration · 2023
- Cited as backgroundmentioned without context
10.3389/fneur.2013.00083/full
- Cited as backgroundmentioned without context
The importance of tau phosphorylation for neurodegenerative diseases.
Frontiers in Neurology · 2013
- Cited as backgroundpresented as the new finding
Plasma p‐tau immunoassays in clinical research for Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's & Dementia · 2025
Evidence layer
Claim by claim
What the story asserts. With no source study, there is nothing to check these against.
Reading mode
Scan verdicts. Open evidence only when needed.
Claim 1 of 7Not checkedBack in 2020, a major milestone of progress emerged: a very accurate biomarker in the plasma — p-Tau217 — for tracking brain neuropathology, without the need for cerebrospinal fluid or a PET scan.View evidenceHide evidence
As statedvery accurate
Not checked
NewsLink could not identify one source study, so this claim was not compared against a paper.
Claim 2 of 7Not checkedThe article says Oskar Hansson and colleagues demonstrated in multiple cohorts that p-Tau217 discriminated Alzheimer’s disease from other neurodegenerative diseases, and quotes Hansson as saying it predicted with nearly 100% certainty whether trial participants had Alzheimer’s disease pathology in their brains.View evidenceHide evidence
As statednearly 100% certainty
Not checked
NewsLink could not identify one source study, so this claim was not compared against a paper.
Claim 3 of 7Not checkedThe article says p-Tau217 consistently outperforms other phosphorylated tau proteins and is as good or superior to cerebrospinal fluid tests and as accurate as tau-PET scans in cognitively unimpaired people.View evidenceHide evidence
As statedas good or superior; as accurate
Not checked
NewsLink could not identify one source study, so this claim was not compared against a paper.
Claim 4 of 7Not checkedThe article says p-Tau217 may be the first biomarker to appear, more than 20 years before symptom onset, and that longitudinal studies show it rises over time in clinically unimpaired people who later progress to Alzheimer’s disease.View evidenceHide evidence
As statedmore than 20 years before symptom onset
Not checked
NewsLink could not identify one source study, so this claim was not compared against a paper.
Claim 5 of 7Not checkedThe article says p-Tau217 is dynamic and responds to interventions such as treatment to reduce amyloid burden or exercise, and that an AAN-presentation study of 54 intervention participants versus 17 controls found substantial improvement in p-Tau217 and other biomarkers after lifestyle recommendations.View evidenceHide evidence
As statedsubstantial improvement
Not checked
NewsLink could not identify one source study, so this claim was not compared against a paper.
Claim 6 of 7Not checkedThe article says p-Tau217 is being used in clinical trials of new drugs to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, and speculates it could one day guide risk surveillance and prevention much like cholesterol testing guides statin use.View evidenceHide evidence
As statedcould one day
Not checked
NewsLink could not identify one source study, so this claim was not compared against a paper.
Claim 7 of 7Not checkedThe article says there are limitations and controversy, including concerns about broad screening, proposed labeling of elevated p-Tau217 as Stage 1 Alzheimer’s disease, and uncertainty about whether lowering p-Tau217 will actually alter plaque progression or disease course.View evidenceHide evidence
Not checked
NewsLink could not identify one source study, so this claim was not compared against a paper.
Method layer
No single source study was found.
NewsLink still surfaces nearby research so you can inspect the field instead of a single paper.
Nearby research
No exact source, but these papers are close.
PubMed, Crossref, Europe PMC · 19 candidate papers
The importance of tau phosphorylation for neurodegenerative diseases.
Frontiers in Neurology · 2013 · PubMed
Plasma p‐tau immunoassays in clinical research for Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's & Dementia · 2025 · Crossref
Longitudinal plasma p-tau217 is increased in early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Brain : a Journal of Neurology · 2020 · PubMed
Plasma phospho-tau in Alzheimer’s disease: towards diagnostic and therapeutic trial applications
Molecular Neurodegeneration · 2023 · Crossref
Plasma Phosphorylated Tau 217 Percentage by Race and Ethnicity in Preclinical Alzheimer Disease.
JAMA Neurology · 2026 · PubMed
And 14 more candidates considered.