New Alzheimers Guidelines

NIH releases new guidelines for Alzheimer's diagnosis.
In continuing coverage, the Los Angeles Times (4/20, Cevallos) reports in its "Booster Shots" blog that new guidelines for diagnosing Alzheimer's "recognize the disease as a continuum, not a single stage, according to a release Tuesday by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Assn." The new guidelines "reflect the more modern understanding of the disease: Alzheimer's can start progressing up to 10 years before signs of dementia. And autopsies can reveal a brain riddled with plaques in someone who showed no signs of dementia."
NPR (4/19, Shute) reports the expansion of the definition of Alzheimer's disease "won't change how the vast majority of people are diagnosed" and "doesn't change the very limited treatment choices." The new criteria, "which were developed by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association, are almost guaranteed to prompt confusion, even in people who are thinking quite clearly." The "biomarker tests and PET scans aren't yet accurate enough to reliably diagnose Alzheimer's, and haven't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration."