Number of People With Alzheimer's Could Triple Soon

Medical experts have proposed major changes in the diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease, in the hope of early detection, diagnosis and treatment. The new guidelines define three stages of the disease: preclinical disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's dementia. New advances in "biomarker" testing have made detection and diagnosis possible at an earlier stage than ever before. Biomarker tests include brain scans and spinal taps that can reveal brain changes indicating Alzheimer's disease. One of the newest tests, called a PET scan, can show plaque - a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease - in the living brain.

The tests and guidelines, once approved and formalized, will likely lead to routine testing of people in their 50s to find Alzheimer's at an early stage. The new guidelines will encourage more testing, which will lead, of course, to more people diagnosed with Alzheimer's, as the tests can detect earlier stages of the disease. Medical experts expect the number of people diagnosed with preclinical, MCI and Alzheimer's could triple in the next few years as the tests become more widely available. The new biomarker tests are expensive, and insurance companies may try to limit their use to those at most risk, such as those with a genetic risk or after a doctor has diagnosed MCI.

There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's, nor are there prescription drugs to manage the disease. So there is the danger of testing being over-prescribed by doctors who fear the liability risk of not ordering the test, or by patients demanding the test. As Dr. David Katz points out, "You only go looking for trouble you can do something about. You screen when finding a disease or risk factor early on allows you reliably to change outcomes for the better."Another risk of the new tests is overexposure to unnecessary radiation. The PET and CT sacs can expose patients to excessive radiation that can cause new cancers due to DNA mutation. Epidemiologists estimate as many as 29,000 new cancers could be related to the millions of scans performed each year.

In a perfect world, these new tests would encourage drug manufacturers to develop drugs that can treat Alzheimer's disease if diagnosed in the early stages. Many of these drugs are in the research pipeline today. While we wait, it's up to you and I to do our part to prevent this devastating disease by living healthy. As Dr. David Katz said, "Alzheimer's is overwhelmingly a condition of vascular decline. Keep your blood vessels healthy... by eating well, being active and not smoking... and you reduce your risk of dementia, along with that of heart disease and stroke."

To learn more about preventing Alzheimer's, visit http://alzheimerspreventiondigest.com

Craig Wallin is the editor of the Alzheimer's Prevention Digest, a free resource to help you improve your memory, stop brain aging and develop your own personal "Alzheimer's Prevention Program." To learn more, visit: http://alzheimerspreventiondigest.com

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.