Alzheimer's is often not recognized

Numerous misdiagnoses in Alzheimer's patients

20/05/2011

Many Alzheimer's diseases are not recognized as such or delayed. Since, in particular, patients under the age of 60 often have no typical Alzheimer's symptoms, initial misdiagnosis is not uncommon, Spanish researchers report in the latest issue of the journal „Neurology“.

Nearly 40 percent of Alzheimer's patients did not show the typical alzheimer forgetfulness in their study, the Spanish researchers write. Albert Lladó from Barcelona. As a result, especially in the early Alzheimer's disease (early-onset Alzheimer's disease, EOAD) of patients aged 40 to 60 years, the diagnosis considerably more difficult, the scientists report.

40 percent of Alzheimer's patients without typical symptoms
In the course of their study, the Spanish researchers evaluated the diagnoses and course of disease of 40 patients who were diagnosed with early Alzheimer's disease after their death by tissue analysis. The average age of the deceased was relatively low at the age of 55 and those affected had already lived on average for eleven years with the disease. However, on average, a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease was not made until three years after the first clinical symptoms appeared, according to the results of the Spanish studies. In addition, the first signs of the disease were characterized by typical episodic memory disorders only in 25 of Alzheimer's disease patients (63 percent). In the beginning, 37 percent of those affected did not experience any memory gaps. The diagnoses in the evaluated medical records were correspondingly different. While in Alzheimer's patients with memory problems, a corresponding diagnosis was made while still alive, doctors were able to diagnose the disease as such in just under one in two (47 percent) of patients with atypical Alzheimer's symptoms.

Alzheimer's disease was not detected in many patients
In Alzheimer's patients with atypical symptoms, such as behavioral disorders, mood swings or speech and vision disorders, the doctors had considerable difficulty recognizing dementia, the Spanish scientists report. According to the experts, various diagnoses were made, such as frontotemporal degeneration, primarily progressive aphasia or depression. Alzheimer's disease itself was not diagnosed in nearly 50 percent of these patients until death. According to the experts, the main problem is that the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's is particularly important. After all, the most widespread form of dementia can not be cured today, and only a few years can be gained for patients by means of appropriate therapy, in which they stay fit for longer. For this, however, a corresponding early diagnosis must be made.

Research on new Alzheimer's diagnostic procedures
For this reason, researchers worldwide have been trying for years to improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. For example, at the beginning of 2010, Francesca Cordeiro, of the University of London's Ophthalmology Institute and her colleague Stephen Moss, presented a way to identify Alzheimer's in mice using a relatively simple eye test. Like Cordeiro and Moss in the online trade magazine „Cell Death and Disease“ With the help of fluorescent markers docking with dying cells, they were able to visualize green spots on the retina, which were taken as an indication of the death of certain brain cells. By further developing their method, the course of the disease and the success of possible therapies could be continuously monitored, the British researchers said. (Fp)

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