AMA: Early Diagnosis Needed for Best Alzheimer's Treatment

Early diagnosis is needed for the best treatment of Alzheimer's disease and to plan for necessary lifestyle changes, such as giving up driving, as the disease progresses, according to a briefing on Alzheimer's by the American Medical Association.

Early therapeutic treatment for cognitive loss is dependent upon early diagnosis and allows for the development of a care plan that can be systematically implemented as the diseases progresses.

Early treatment can provide both the patient and the caregivers an improved quality of life, according to Dr. Rachelle S. Doody, an Alzheimer's disease physician from Baylor College who spoke at the briefing.

"You are entitled to a clear diagnosis. Doctors should be familiar with what Alzheimer's disease is and what it is not," said Dr. William E. Reichman of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

The briefing also stressed the importance of identifying drivers with cognitive impairment who are at a greater risk for having an automobile accident.

"People who are at risk on the road need to be identified before they hurt themselves or injure others. This needs to be accomplished without randomly suppressing people's driving privileges because they are older or they have a certain diagnosis," said Dr. L. Jaime Fitten of the UCLA School of Medicine. "Studies have now shown that drivers with mild dementia have a greater risk of accidents than drivers who do not have dementia."

Other sources: AMA, Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp.