All of us are afraid of Alzheimer’s. The greatest risk factor for developing #Alzheimer’s dementia is old age, and America is rapidly aging. One in nine Americans over 65 have the disease, and one in three over 85. So it’s only natural that, in recent years, people have trumpeted the development of a new test that can measure the presence of beta-amyloid — the protein clumps in the brain that are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s dementia. The question patients and their families should be asking is, what does this test really offer? Let’s be clear: it does not cure the disease or affect symptoms. At best it identifies what might be causing a patient’s forgetfulness. But, at worst, it can get that diagnosis wrong. To make things more confusing, while colloquially called an “Alzheimer’s test,” the scan doesn’t diagnose Alzheimer’s dementia — it only determines the presence of amyloid. In fact, the only thing the scan can do is confirm that a patient’s cognitive problems are not caused by Alzheimer’s.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 14:27:51 +0000
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