Diagnosing 'Stage One Alzheimer’s Disease' based solely on biomarkers is potentially dangerous to patients.
An 80-something patient came in for an annual visit recently and was worried that recent memory lapses might be symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. This patient, like several others in my practice, has taken cognitive tests annually for more than a decade. With each passing year, I see and hear the patient’s spiral of worry: Am I getting more forgetful? Perhaps it feels like “Where are my keys?” and “Where did I leave my wallet?” have become common refrains.
Although there are good reasons to test lots of people and gather a larger pool of patients who might have early stage Alzheimer’s, I think the cost to specific individuals can be just too great. Candidates for clinical trials should not be identified based on positive blood tests from a clinical setting, but rather through carefully conducted research studies that have proper counseling and disclosure protocols.
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