Alzheimer’s disease may be easily misdiagnosed

	Tweet

New research shows that Alzheimer’s disease and other dementing illnesses may be easily misdiagnosed in the elderly, according to early results of a study of people in Hawaii who had their brains autopsied after death. The research is being released today and will be presented as part of a plenary session at the American Academy of Neurology’s 63rd Annual Meeting in Honolulu April 9 to April 16, 2011.

“Diagnosing specific dementias in people who are very old is complex, but with the large increase in dementia cases expected within the next 10 years in the United States, it will be increasingly important to correctly recognize, diagnose, prevent and treat age-related cognitive decline,” said study author Lon White, MD, MPH, with the Kuakini Medical System in Honolulu.

For the study, researchers autopsied the brains of 426 Japanese-American men who were residents of Hawaii, and who died at an average age of 87 years. Of those, 211 had been diagnosed with a dementia when they were alive, most commonly attributed to Alzheimer’s disease.

The study found that about half of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease did not have sufficient numbers of the brain lesions characterizing that condition to support the diagnosis. Most of those in whom the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease was not confirmed had one or a combination of other brain lesions sufficient to explain the dementia. These included microinfarcts, Lewy bodies, hippocampal sclerosis or generalized brain atrophy.

However, diagnoses of Lewy body dementia and vascular dementia were more accurate. Misdiagnoses increased with older age. They also reflected non-specific manifestations of dementia, a very high prevalence of mixed brain lesions, and the ambiguity of most neuroimaging measures.

“Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and provide insight as to how we may more accurately diagnose and prevent Alzheimer’s disease and other principal dementing disease processes in the elderly,” said White.

###

The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This research will be presented as part of the Contemporary and Clinical Issues and Case Studies Plenary Session on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, at the 2011 American Academy of Neurology’s Annual Meeting in Honolulu.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 22,500 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

###

Contact: Rachel Seroka

651-695-2738
American Academy of Neurology

RELATED STORIES:
Apple juice improves behavior but not cognition in Alzheimer’s patients   Sleep loss may rev up appetite   Depression Increases Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease   Traumatic Brain Injury in Professional Football: An Evidence-based Perspective   Stroke awareness campaign aims to halve deaths   Low, high manganese levels may affect the infant brain   Staying active keeps mind sharp in old age   Common drug ineffective in early Alzheimer’s-study   Combo therapy lowers blood clot risk after stroke   With Endoscopic Surgery, Patient Has Large Pituitary Tumor Removed and Goes Home Two Days Later   New hope for Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s   Tamoxifen may raise stroke risk slightly

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]