Almost 20 Percent of Alzheimer's Cases Are Misdiagnosed

Alzheimer’s is a disease difficult to diagnose. According to two new studies, the neuro-degenerative condition is often misdiagnosed, causing unnecessary distress to those who are told they have the disease when they don’t.

Misdiagnosing Alzheimer’s is also a factor that delays treatment for others who do need it. Even though medical research has yet to find a cure or effective treatment, it’s vital to give a correct diagnosis because Alzheimer’s progress can be delayed and the patient’s quality of life can be preserved for as long as possible.

Experts also agree that an early diagnosis gives patients the necessary time to plan for their end-of-life care. Dean Hartley, head of science initiatives, scientific and medical relations at the Alzheimer’s Association, said that some drugs can temporarily boost memory if given at a very early stage.

A correct diagnosis can also offer people the chance of being enlisted into clinical trials to test the efficiency of new drugs. At the moment, Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed based on symptoms.

There’s no method available to physicians so they can diagnose the condition with 100 percent accuracy; no imaging test or blood test has that kind of ability, which is the reason why misdiagnoses occur sometimes.

To make matters even more difficult, Alzheimer’s turned out to be a much more complex disease than it was once believed. However, medical research makes progress each year, looking for more accurate ways to diagnose the condition.

According to the results of the first study – conducted by the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. – men are more prone to be misdiagnosed than women.

Leading researcher Melissa Murray, an assistant professor of neuroscience, explained that one of the reasons leading to this higher rate is the fact that men develop more aggressive forms of Alzheimer’s at a younger age than women.

While Alzheimer’s onset occurs in men in their 60s, the condition develops in women only in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. The symptoms also differ, both in the location in the brain and the physical effects.

In the second study, the Keenan Research Center for Biomedical Science at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, found that the inconsistencies between clinical and autopsy diagnoses rose to nearly 20 percent.

Image Source: Imaging Economics

Bio
Latest Posts

Nancy Young

When I was younger I used to spend almost all of my free time playing computer games. My mom and dad would go mental over this. “You’re never going to do anything with your life if you are going to play games all day” they used to say. What was even more unusual was the fact that I played more games than most of the guys in my friend group. Looking back, I have to admit that I probably played a bit too much, but I also learned a lot of great things. When I turned 20 I decided that it was high-time to make some money of my own, but the only jobs I could get were that of waitress or cashier. How exciting. After several excruciating months of serving tables I had a great idea: since I love gaming so much, why don’t I write about it? That’s when I started doing small writing projects on Elance. Eventually, I got an offer for a part-time job. During that time I learned all about content marketing strategies and how search engines work. I started writing about various topics such as technology, health and lifestyle and discovered that I was actually good at it. On November 24, 2014, I became part of the ArgyllFreePress team.