AD pathology begins to develop long before clinical symptoms are readily apparent. However, AD diagnosis currently depends on assessing a range of cognitive and behavioral changes over time. Finding a way to detect the disease at the earliest point possible will allow clinicians to treat it as early as possible. One active area of AD research focuses on the development of sensitive screening instruments and neuropsychological tests to diagnose cognitive decline, aMCI, and AD as early as possible.
Ambitious efforts also are underway to find new ways to measure changes in the structure and function of the brain and in other biomarkers, such as substances in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and blood. These biomarkers may hint at pathological changes that occur before clinical signs of aMCI or AD are evident or when they emerge. Improvements in brain imaging and new findings about CSF biomarkers are already yielding results. For example, the development of PiB has enabled scientists to visualize beta-amyloid plaques in the living brain. Advances like this may lead to very early diagnosis of AD and will help researchers and clinicians develop new treatments and monitor their effectiveness.
In another relatively new area of AD diagnosis research, investigators are examining other types of physical changes that may hint at AD, opening the door to other potential tools to help clinicians diagnose AD early and accurately.
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