The incidence of AD rises with age, affecting approximately 10% of those over 65 years, and rising to 50% at age 85.

The diagnosis of Alzheimer's Dementia is particularly difficult in the early stages as its presentation can merge into the changes in intellect seen with normal aging. Unfortunately it is at this period of the illness that accurate diagnosis would be the most valuable to both the clinician and patient with regard to both management and planning.

The recent development of treatment strategies (e.g. anticholinesterases) and preventative strategies (e.g. neuroprotective agents and vitamin E) has brought the present unsatisfactory status of early diagnosis into clearer focus. In addition to permitting earlier intervention in patients who have Alzheimer's Disease more accurate early diagnosis could help avoid the risks of inappropriate treatment for those patients who do not.

Present tools available to assist clinical diagnosis are often not helpful in early diagnosis. These are either images of brain structure (e.g. CT or MRI scan) or of brain function (e.g. SPECT or EEG). Structural imaging is unlikely to be valuable at this stage in the illness when structural changes are likely to be extremely modest or absent and again merge into the spectrum of changes seen with ageing. Functional imaging holds the most promise but the presently available measures do not reliably pick up deficits at the level required.

A number of charities and other organizations offer excellent sources of further information on AD and related diseases. Selected links can be found at the bottom of this page.

Diagnostic Potentials Ltd is developing a new diagnostic tool for the early assessment of AD. For more information on this development project, please visit this link. [page 3]