How Soon Is Soon Enough To Learn You Have Alzheimer鈥檚?

Jose and Elaine Belardo's lives were upended last year when he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. (Alex Smith/KCUR)
Jose Belardo of Lansing, Kan., spent most of his career in the U.S. Public Health Service. He worked on the front lines of disasters in such places as Haiti, Colombia, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. At home with his three kids and wife, Elaine, he鈥檇 always been unfailingly reliable, so when he forgot their wedding anniversary two years in a row, they both started to worry.
鈥淲e recognized something wasn鈥檛 right and pretty much attributed it to being overworked and tired,鈥 Elaine said.
But the symptoms grew. Last year, when Jose was 50, he got an evaluation at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that included a battery of cognitive tests and an聽聽of his brain. The scan detects聽 鈥 sticky clumps of protein fragments that tend to build up particularly in the brains of people with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease (though some healthy older adults聽).
Retired Rear Adm. Jose Belardo traveled the world and worked with national leaders as part of the U.S. Public Health Service.(Alex Smith/KCUR)
Jose said his diagnosis of聽聽came as an inconvenient shock. Still, he and his wife said they believe it is better to have a diagnosis than not. Jose said he is determined not to let the shock of the diagnosis distract him from living a full life.
鈥淚鈥檝e got responsibilities, man. I can鈥檛 go away,鈥 Jose said. 鈥淚鈥檝e got kids. I鈥檝e got graduations coming up. I鈥檝e got all this stuff coming up. I鈥檓 not going to let Alzheimer鈥檚 take聽迟丑补迟听away from me. That鈥檚 for sure.鈥
The prospect of having Alzheimer鈥檚 can be so scary, and the current treatment options so few, that many people dismiss memory problems or other symptoms rather than investigate them, say Alzheimer鈥檚 specialists; it鈥檚 estimated that as many as half of all cases aren鈥檛 diagnosed.
But that may soon change. Researchers are聽聽in measuring beta-amyloid and other Alzheimer鈥檚 biomarkers in blood that might eventually be able to reliably, inexpensively and non-invasively identify the disease years before cognitive symptoms develop.
For now, PET scans for beta-amyloid still aren鈥檛 widely available, and most other biomarker tests are聽. But Dr.聽, an Alzheimer鈥檚 researcher and professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, predicted these physiological measurements will signal a new chapter in Alzheimer鈥檚 care.
The ultimate goal, Morris said, is to correctly diagnose and treat people 鈥減rior to the stage of dementia, prior to the stage where memory and thinking are affected, in an effort to delay the loss of memory and thinking ability or even prevent it.鈥
In the meantime, he said, one reason to see a doctor at the first development of mild cognitive symptoms is because the symptoms might stem from something else that is quite treatable.
鈥淔or example, sometimes a low thyroid hormone level can produce a dementia-like state,鈥 he said, 鈥渁nd that can be easily treated with thyroid replacement therapy.鈥
And even if the underlying problem is Alzheimer鈥檚, a recent study by the Alzheimer鈥檚 Association suggests that accurately diagnosing the illness at the earlier stage of聽 鈥 or possibly even before symptoms appear 鈥 could save聽聽in terms of health costs and long-term care costs over the course of their lifetime.
Elaine Belardo says she finds solace in reading the Bible and writing in her journal each morning in a small room in their basement.(Alex Smith/KCUR)
An earlier diagnosis also allows the聽聽in planning for their own future and the family鈥檚. That can help reduce the emotional toll of the disease on everyone.
After Jose Belardo鈥檚 illness was diagnosed, the family rushed to get his affairs in order. They got in touch with the Alzheimer鈥檚 Association, which provided support groups and other help.
And before long, as Elaine explained, the shock started to wear off.
鈥淲hat I would say is, after you get a diagnosis of something that is incurable and progressive and perhaps even aggressive: Pause. And breathe. And think about where the person is right at that moment. Because at that moment, Jose was not dying. And at聽this聽moment, Jose is not dying.鈥
Researchers hope that by getting more Alzheimer鈥檚 patients diagnosed early on, more people with the disease will, like Jose, be able to make the best of the health they have.
This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.
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