Quest Diagnostics has collaborated with uMETHOD Health for the availability of the latter’s RestoreU Dementia Panel across the US to help physicians enhance the detection and care of possible treatable causes of cognitive decline.
uMETHOD Health, which develops precision medicine for chronic diseases, has developed the RestoreU Dementia Panel for risk assessment and care plan service.
The panel uses artificial intelligence (AI) developed by the health technology company to produce customised care plans in order to enhance patient care while meeting cognitive care guidelines.
The RestoreU service integrates laboratory test results ordered by physicians from Quest Diagnostics with the health history of patients, including their lifestyle habits, comorbidities, and medications.
uMETHOD’s AI platform then evaluates more than 50 risk factors to identify areas of concern. It then produces a customised care plan with actionable, evidence-based treatment suggestions.
According to Quest Diagnostics, the reports may help physicians to detect potentially reversible causes of cognitive decline. It can also help identify measures to potentially slow or stop the progression of dementia.
The generated care plans can consist of pharmacological and supplementation-based treatment and recommendations for lifestyle habits. These will help the physician to counsel the patient, the diagnostic company said.
Quest Diagnostics neurology medical director Michael Racke said: “With so much attention on emerging therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, it is easy to overlook the growing body of science suggesting a preventive care approach can help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and other dementias in some patients.
“In addition, not all cognitive disorders signify dementia and may, in some cases, be due to reversible causes. RestoreU provides robust personalised insights to help the physician tease out the confounding factors causing a patient’s cognitive decline and identify measures that may help improve care and outcomes.”
The RestoreU service is said to complement Quest Diagnostics’ dementia laboratory services, which include the AD-Detect Amyloid Beta (AB) 42/40 Ratio blood test for evaluating the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Quest Diagnostics stated that RestoreU can help refine the risk assessment further, find other potential reasons for cognitive dysfunction, and guide treatment.
