Practical Recommendations for Timely, Accurate Diagnosis of Symptomatic Alzheimer's Disease (MCI and Dementia) in Primary Care: A Review and Synthesis.

Practical Recommendations for Timely, Accurate Diagnosis of Symptomatic Alzheimer's Disease (MCI and Dementia) in Primary Care: A Review and Synthesis.

Liss JL;Seleri MAS;Cummings J;Atri A;Geldmacher DS;Candela SF;Devanand DP;Fillit HM;Susman J;Mintzer J;Bittner T;Brunton SA;Kerwin DR;Clay JW;Small GW;Grossberg GT;Clevenger CK;Cotter V;Stefanacci R;Wise-Brown A;Sabbagh MN

Journal Of Internal Medicine

2021

2021-01-18

The critical role of primary care clinicians (PCCs) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevention, diagnosis and management must evolve as new treatment paradigms and disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) emerge. Our understanding of AD has grown substantially: No longer conceptualized as a late-in-life syndrome of cognitive and functional impairments, we now recognize that AD pathology builds silently for decades before cognitive impairment is detectable. Clinically, AD first manifests subtly as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD before progressing to dementia. Emerging optimism for improved outcomes in AD stem from a focus on preventive interventions in mid-life and timely, biomarker-confirmed diagnosis at early signs of cognitive deficits (ie, MCI due to AD and mild AD dementia). A timely AD diagnosis is particularly important for optimizing patient care and enabling the appropriate use of anticipated DMTs. An accelerating challenge for PCCs and AD specialists will be to respond to innovations in diagnostics and therapy for AD in a system that is not currently well positioned to do so. To overcome these challenges, PCCs and AD specialists must collaborate closely to navigate and optimize dynamically evolving AD care in the face of new opportunities. In the spirit of this collaboration, we summarize here some prominent and influential models that inform our current understanding of AD. We also advocate for timely and accurate (ie, biomarker-defined) diagnosis of early AD. In doing so, we consider evolving issues related to prevention, detecting emerging cognitive impairment, and the role of biomarkers in the clinic.

Alzheimer Disease; Biomarkers; Dementia; Disease-Modifying Therapies; Mild Cognitive Impairment; Primary Health Care

journalArticle

Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

1365-2796 0954-6820

NEOMED College of Medicine

Department of Family & Community Medicine

February 2021 List