Friends and family could play a role in helping diagnose Alzheimer’s disease

Doctors usually diagnose Alzheimer’s disease through a combination of medical and cognitive tests along with a brain scan. New studies, even one involving family members and friends, offer the promise of making the diagnosis easier -- and maybe even earlier.

An August study in the Archives of Neurology used biomarkers to correctly classify patients who had Alzheimer’s disease. The study tested normal people without the disease, those with mild brain impairments and those with the disease. One-third of the “normal” participants also had the signature markers, suggesting that the disease might be detectable earlier than previously thought. Read an abstract of the study at “Diagnosis-Indepenent Alzheimer Disease Biomarker Signature in Cognitively Normal Elderly People.”

A simple questionnaire for friends and family developed by the Washington University School of Medicine turned out to be a good predictor as well, according to “Sometimes friends and family are best” in the Health Notes blog of the Newport News Daily Press.

-- Mary Forgione / Los Angeles Times