Technique moves practical Alzheimer diagnosis one step closer to
reality Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
School of Medicine and Public Health are moving closer to a
significant milepost in the battle against Alzheimer's disease:
identifying the first signs of decline in the brain. After years
of frustrating failure to stop late-stage Alzheimer's, it's
essential to find and treat the mild stages, says Sterling
Johnson, professor of geriatrics. "We need to identify
Alzheimer's as early as possible, before the really destructive
changes take place. Typically, by the time we diagnose
Alzheimer's disease, patients have already lost much of their
brain capacity, and it's difficult or impossible for them to
recover." The earlier phases, before large numbers of brain
cells have been killed, should be more amenable to treatment,
Johnson says. Alzheimer's disease is the largest single cause of
dementia. Early symptoms include memory decline, eventually
progressing to widespread cognitive and behavior