New Guidelines Redefine Alzheimer’s
A monumental step has been made
in Alzheimer’s and dementia care. For the first time in nearly three
decades, the definition of Alzheimer’s is being recast to reflect that
the disease begins ravaging the brain years before symptoms may appear.
The National Institute on
Aging, and the Alzheimer’s Association, have issued these new guidelines
dividing the disease into three distinct stages. They are categorized
as the phase when dementia has developed, a mid-phase when mild problems
are emerging, and a phase when no symptoms are manifesting but changes
are happening within the brain.
In order for our nation to
truly address the need for an effective health care program for Alzheimer’s,
an early detection and recognition of dementia is imperative.
Creighton Phelps, director
of the National Institute on Aging’s Alzheimer’s Disease Centers Program,
is reassured that we are “going to identify Alzheimer’s earlier and earlier.”
A new bill has also been
put to Congress this month aimed at this drive for early detection and
recognition of Alzheimer’s. This bill would create Medicare cost
codes for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
These new guidelines concern
the methods that are used to assess brain changes, and measures called
‘Biomarkers’, that indicate if a person is likely to develop dementia.
At present the guidelines specify that these biomarkers be used only with
those patients enrolled in clinical trials, whilst scientists standardize
the tests and determine exactly what measure is truly abnormal, and what
is not.
These guidelines demonstrate
that the medical community is moving towards an era when more specific
knowledge about biomarkers will enable a much greater understanding of
the brain changes that take place in dementia.
With a dementia tsunami waiting
on the horizon, these new steps in detecting early signs of Alzheimer’s
will be paramount to averting a healthcare crisis. The guidelines
clarify the diagnostic criteria for those with dementia symptoms, and help
to make distinctions between different types of dementia, in addition to
Alzheimer’s.
This is yet another positive
step forward in how our society is learning to deal with dementia and the
care required for those who suffer, and those who care for the afflicted.
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