Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting an estimated 6.7 million Americans, so it’s no wonder people who experience memory loss suspect Alzheimer’s disease.
In fact, there is another common cognitive disorder with very similar symptoms, called limbic-dominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (abbreviated LATE), which is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease. .
A recent report published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association develops “objective criteria” for diagnosing and staging all types of dementia, including late-onset dementia. It emphasizes the need to
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Delay is a prevalent symptom in later life and contributes to memory loss and cognitive decline, said report co-author Rebecca M. Edelmeyer, Ph.D., vice president for scientific engagement at the Alzheimer’s Association of Chicago. It is said that there is a possibility that
“LATE is defined by changes in the TDP-43 protein in brain tissue and often coexists with Alzheimer’s disease changes, such as the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles.” (St. Petersburg)
“LATE is defined by changes in the TDP-43 protein in brain tissue and often coexists with Alzheimer’s disease changes such as beta-amyloid plaque accumulation and tau tangles,” she told Fox News Digital.
The newly proposed criteria aim to help clinicians better distinguish between late-stage disease and Alzheimer’s disease, ultimately leading to more accurate diagnosis and improved treatment strategies, Edelmeyer said. he said.
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LATE tends to decline more slowly than Alzheimer’s disease, said lead author David Wolk, a professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Doctors estimated that this condition occurs in parallel with Alzheimer’s disease in about a third of patients and appears to accelerate the course of the disease.
More than 25% of people over the age of 80 have this type of dementia.
More than 25% of people over the age of 80 have this common but little-known form of dementia. (St. Petersburg)
“Despite the commonality of this condition, most clinicians and patients have never heard of LATE and do not consider it when memory loss is present,” Wolk noted.
“Knowing whether you have Alzheimer’s disease can impact prognosis and potentially impact the effectiveness of treatment.”
“Most clinicians and patients have never heard of LATE and do not consider this when they have memory loss.”
Until the publication of the criteria presented in the new report, there was no consensus on how to diagnose this condition.
“That was only discovered during the post-mortem,” Wolk said.
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“These criteria provide a way for doctors to diagnose the disease, which is an important step both in clinical practice and, ultimately, in research to better treat the condition.”
While there are diagnostic tests that specifically measure Alzheimer’s disease, Wolk pointed out that no such test exists for LATE.
Although there are diagnostic tests that specifically measure Alzheimer’s disease, no such test exists for LATE. (St. Petersburg)
“The criteria provide a level of diagnostic likelihood, but they are not definitive,” he told FOX News Digital. “The standards also need to be validated in practice.”
In the near future, advances in biological markers will allow clinicians to distinguish between different types of dementia, Edelmeyer noted.
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“Until these tools are available, clinical diagnostic criteria such as the ones we have published can be used to support a more personalized medicine approach to treatment, care, and enrollment in clinical research. ” she told FOX News Digital.
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“Additionally, these new recommendations create opportunities for further research and a roadmap to identify challenges that remain to accurately diagnose patients with LATE.”
