Memory impairment will no longer be the main criteria related to the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease under new guidelines released Tuesday by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association. The new guidelines mark the first time in 27 years that the clinical diagnostic criteria have been revised.
To reflect ongoing research, the new guidelines will now cover three distinct stages of Alzheimer's disease:
- The preclinical stage has guidelines which only apply in a research setting. This stage describes a phase in which the brain changes and significant clinical symptoms are not yet evident. Use of the imaging and biomarker tests--which are still being developed--are recommended only for research.
- Mild cognitive impairment is marked by symptoms of memory problems--enough to be noticed and measured but not compromising a person's independence. People with mild cognitive impairment may or may not progress to Alzheimer's dementia.
- Alzheimer's dementia is the final stage of the disease that is expected to be the most relevant for physicians and patients. The guidelines outline ways clinicians should approach evaluating causes and progression of cognitive decline. The final stage of the guidelines is focus on expanding the concept of Alzheimer's dementia beyond memory loss as its most central characteristic.
The guideline panels purposefully left the criteria flexible to allow for changes that could come from emerging technologies and advances in understanding biomarkers and the disease process.
"The guidelines discuss biomarkers currently known, and mention others that may have future applications," said Creighton H. Phelps, PhD, of the NIA Alzheimer's Disease Centers Program, in a statement.
For more information:
- see the National Institutes of Health release
- view the WebMD Health News article