Is Pre-Alzheimer's Disease Testing Effective?

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Alzheimer’s disease is an unpreventable, untreatable disorder which leads to the lowest form of quality of life. This disease causes lacking cognitive abilities in the area of remembrance, reason, and recognition of familiar places and faces; is predicted to affect 16 million people in the United States by 2050 unless a viable treatment or cure is found. Because this disease affects the fastest-growing age group, current clinical trials are striving to find effective pre-Alzheimer’s Disease tests. However, there are people who believe that these pre-screening methods are not reliable.

Those that favor the idea of pre-Alzheimer’s Disease testing believe that cognitive abilities screening, neuropsychological exams, brain image testing and spinal fluid are the key to detecting this disease early in life. Through cognitive abilities screening the administering clinician is able to track and compare linguistic abilities associated with cognitive abilities over set intervals of time. In neuropsychological exams the clinician is able to detect early onset attributes of Alzheimer’s and recognize what areas will be affected. Brain imaging allows clinicians to diagnose Alzheimer’s with 90 percent accuracy. Lastly, in spinal fluid clinicians can identify a certain protein which has an 80%-90% exactitude of which people will have Alzheimer’s later in life.

In contrast, those who dispute the abilities of pre-Alzheimer Disease screening believe there is a downfall to each of the testing methods listed above. A failing cognitive abilities test has many reasons besides Alzheimer’s and can it distinguish which functions are affected the most. Neuropsychological testing is extensive, long and can cause stress for the recipient leading t...

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...uters, T. (2011). Spinal fluid test could help predict early alzheimer's. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/23/spinal-fluid-alzheimers-test_n_883194.html

Scott, P. (2011). Alzheimer's tests: pros and cons of the 6 main options. Retrieved from http://www.caring.com/articles/alzheimers-tests-pros-cons

Snowdon, D. (1996). Landmark study links cognitive ability of youth with Alzheimer’s disease risk later in life. Journal of the American Medical Association, Retrieved from http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/ResearchInformation/NewsReleases/Archives/PR1996/PR19960220nunstudy.htm

The use of brain imaging in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.alzheimerstreatment.org/diagnosis/brain-imaging.html

Winchester, K. (2008). Contrast of contrast. Retrieved from http://www.jama.org/contrast/mri_dang_2/review.html

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