HealthBridge's In-Home Care Blog

How do you know if your loved one has Alzheimer's Disease?

Right now, you don't.  At least not definitively.  

You can have a pretty good idea based on a battery of clinical tests that allow you to eliminate other alternatives. But, even the smartest doctors at the best medical centers are often wrong. 

Twenty percent of people with dementia who received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease did not have it.  Half of people with mild cognitive impairment were misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's.  

The only definitive way to diagnose Alzheimer's Disease is through an autopsy.  

Why is Alzheimer's Disease so hard to diagnose? 

A person with memory loss doesn't necessarily have Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's Disease is plaque in the brain plus memory loss and mental decline.  Doctors can't see the plaque in the brain without an autopsy.  They have to rely on other tests to make their best guess at the diagnosis.  

Not being able to see the plaque in living patients presents two big problems: 

1. It means doctors can't tell if the disease is progressing in your loved one.
2. Doctors can't tell if people with plaque, but normal memories, are developing Alzheimer's Disease. 
   

An accurate diagnosis, at last.  

Finding a trustworthy diagnosis for Alzheimer's Disease is the mission of Dr. Daniel Skovronsky and his team at Avid Radiopharmaceuticals.  

Avid discovered a dye that, combined with a brain scan, shows the hallmark plaque collecting in the brains of people with Alzheimer's Disease.  

The dye and scan are still being tested, but the preliminary findings are astounding, according to the New York Times.

A man diagnosed with Alzheimer's and cancer had a scan showing no plaque.  His autopsy did not show it either.  The diagnosis was wrong.  Another man with Parkinson's disease and dementia had been diagnosed as having dementia solely due to Parkinson's.  His scan showed amyloid.  So did the autopsy.  He had Alzheimer's.  A woman with mild memory loss had a scan showing no amyloid.  Her autopsy also found none.  Three others had clinical diagnoses of Alzheimer's, confirmed by scans and autopsies.  

This means doctors will, for the first time, have a reliable way to diagnose the presence of Alzheimer's Disease in patients with memory problems.  And people with a small build up of plaque, but no memory impairment, can immediately begin treatment to stave off the disease. 

The findings must still be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.  But, if they hold up, we will finally have a trustworthy way to diagnose Alzheimer's Disease.  

How will your life as an Alzheimer's caregiver change, if this accurate diagnosis method comes to pass?  

Caregiving may feed the soul, but the families we serve are starving for knowledge about it. 

It's a job without a job description.  It's a task that we're duty bound to do, but ill prepared to do well.  

So, I'm always on the hunt for useful guides about caregiving.

I like the new guide from the National Institute on Aging about caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's Disease.  

It dives into the deep and complex issues of caregiving, without being overwhelming.  It's not a pamphlet.  It's a venerable guide that will improve the care you provide your loved one.   

Read the whole guide online here.  

For more Dallas Alzheimer's Care resources, visit the website of the Greater Dallas Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.  You'll find literature, events, seminars and classes you can use to support your caregiving mission.