New research studies bring early detection of Alzheimer's Disease closer to reality

• Advanced imaging technologies and novel biomarkers show great promise for earlier detection of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, as demonstrated by new research studies reported today at the first Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Prevention of Dementia in Washington.
• Glucose metabolism is the major energy source of the brain and is a sensitive indicator of brain damage.
• At baseline of the study, reductions in glucose metabolism in the brain's hippocampus (Hip MRglc) were found for those study participants who would eventually decline to Alzheimer's or MCI, as compared to the non-decliners.
• Alison Godbolt of the Dementia Research Centre, Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK, and colleagues agreed with the widely held hypothesis that the biochemical and structural changes in the brain that eventually cause Alzheimer symptoms are actually present before memory loss begins.
• The age at which they will develop symptoms can be predicted to some extent from the age at which other members of their family have developed the disease, which is often very similar in all sufferers in the family.
• One of several reasons cited by general practitioners for their failure to screen is the lengthy nature and inadequacies of current screening tools such as the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE)."
• The researchers identified the General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG), Mini-Cog, and Memory Impairment Screen (MIS) were most suitable for routine screening.
• To begin to address these questions, Renee Beard, Ph.D., a National Institute on Aging Post-Doctoral Fellow in Gerontological Public Health at the Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, devoted 18 months to observing the diagnostic process, including observation and qualitative interviews with 50 people undergoing cognitive evaluation and focus groups with 35 individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's or MCI.
• It is critical to continue exploring the individual, social, and bioethical consequences of increasingly earlier diagnoses," Beard said.