New guidelines should help physicians, patients and family members spot the warning signs of Alzheimer's disease sooner.

        The sooner Alzheimer's is recognized, the sooner treatment can begin to slow the progress of the devastating disease, says Dr. Jeffrey L. Cummings, director of the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Center and co-chair of the American Academy of Neurology dementia guidelines project.

ON THE WEB

For more information on Alzheimer's disease and the new Alzheimer's disease guidelines, check these Web sites:     • The Alzheimer's Association, www.alz.org     • The American Academy of Neurology, www.aan.com

        “We hope that more patients will be diagnosed and recognized as having Alzheimer's disease,” he says. “We know at the current time that less than half the patients with even moderate to severe disease are going unrecognized, and therefore, no treatment can be done, and no intervention is available.”

        The guidelines emphasize three points, Dr. Cummings says:

        • Alzheimer's disease is easily distinguished from the normal changes that accompany aging.

        • Alzheimer's disease can be reliably diagnosed by primary care physicians or neurologists.

        • Numerous treatment and care options are available for people with Alzheimer's disease.

        The American Academy of Neurology adopted the guidelines last week at its annual meeting in Philadelphia.

        A diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease isn't the end of the world, Dr. Cummings says. He hopes the new guidelines will help wipe out what he calls “therapeutic nihilism,” or the idea that there's no hope once the diagnosis is made.

        Authors of the guidelines reviewed some 6,000 articles and 49 medications, including antipsychotic medications that can help control behavioral changes in Alzheimer's patients. In addition the medications, patients and families can take advantage of a variety of care services to help manage the disease.

        “I think families have many options available to them, and physicians have the responsibility to families to make sure that their voices are heard once a diagnosis is made,” he says.

        Vitamin E shows promise in helping to treat or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. And research is under way on a vaccine and other medications that would prevent the formation of toxic plaques in the brain that experts believe cause Alzheimer's, Dr. Cummings says.
       
       

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