Patent ID: 8304246

Claim:
A method for diagnosing a patient's Alzheimer's disease health state or change in health state, or for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, dementia, the risk of Alzheimer's disease, or the risk of dementia in a living patient, the method comprising the steps of: a) analyzing a blood sample from said patient by mass spectrometry to obtain quantifying data for one or more than one metabolite marker; b) comparing the quantifying data for said one or more than one metabolite marker to corresponding data obtained for one or more than one reference sample to identify an increase or decrease in a level of said one or more than one metabolite marker in said blood sample; and c) using said increase or decrease in the level of said one or more than one metabolite marker in said blood sample for diagnosing said patient's Alzheimer's disease health state or change in Alzheimer's disease health state, or for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, dementia, the risk of Alzheimer's disease, or the risk of dementia in said patient, wherein the one or more than one metabolite marker comprises one or more molecule selected from the group consisting of: plasmenylethanolamine, plasmanylethanolamine, and combinations thereof.