With more than three million cases a year in the United States, Alzheimer’s disease to this day has no cure; however, a new study found that a simple blood test can determine if a patient will develop Alzheimer’s up to 16 years in advance.

Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. Although there is treatment which can help temporarily improve symptoms, there is no cure for this devastating disease.

Nature Medicine published the results of a study conducted by several researchers, including the lead researcher Mathias Jucker from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The researchers during the experiment measured a protein in the blood called NfL (neurofilament light chain), which is a “marker in the blood which gives an indication of nerve cell loss in the brain,” explained Jucker.

During experimentation, the research team measured the rate of change in NfL in 405 individuals by using a blood test. The individuals involved in the study were from all over the world and enrolled in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s network, which tracks a rare form of Alzheimer’s developed by people who are predisposed to the disease through an inherited gene mutation.

NfL protein levels were also measured in the participants through brain imaging and cognitive test, in addition to the blood tests.

The individuals who carried the gene mutations, which predisposed them to Alzheimer’s disease, were found to have increased levels of NfL in comparison to the control group, who did not carry the gene mutation.

“We can measure with our blood test the changes in the brain many, many years before we have the symptoms,” Jucker said. Although the study is ongoing, 13 participants have already developed Alzheimer’s.

Researchers believe any rise in the levels of NfL could be an early sign of the disease. NfL levels were also shown to be correlated with cognitive decline and brain loss, the researchers learned through cognitive testing and brain imaging.

According to the study, the findings come together to show the changes in NfL levels were an accurate predictor of how brain damage develops.

As the blood test has been proven to accurately detect Alzheimer’s disease, the regular blood test could now possibly replace doing more invasive spinal taps.