Alzheimer’s Disease – Course, natural history and prognosis

References:1.APA Dictionary of Psychology Webpage. Disease course. Available at: https://dictionary.apa.org/disease-course. Accessed August 2023.

2.CDC Introduction to Epidemiology Webpage. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section9.html. Accessed August 2023.

3.APA Dictionary of Psychology Webpage. Prognosis. Available at:…

References:1.Atri A. The Alzheimer's disease clinical spectrum: diagnosis and management. Med Clin North Am 2019; 103 (2): 263–293.

2.Knopman DS, Amieva H, Petersen RC, et al. Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Dis Primers…

The ‘preclinical’ stage precedes mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and includes individuals who have evidence of early AD pathological changes, but do not meet clinical criteria for MCI or dementia.⁷ Three stages of preclinical AD were first defined in 2011.⁷ In…

References:1.Reisberg B, Ferris SH, de Leon MJ, Crook T. The Global Deterioration Scale for assessment of primary degenerative dementia. Am J Psychiatry 1982; 139 (9): 1136–1139.

2.Olde Rikkert MG, Tona KD, Janssen…

Disease stage can be based on aetiology, clinical history, anatomical distribution of pathology, or biological features.³ Clinically determined stages to categorize AD lack specificity, however they do provide prognostically relevant information.³ Numerical clinical staging can be applied to individuals in…

The severity of cognitive impairment in patients with AD varies.¹ Clinical diagnosis of cognitive impairment in individuals is important for the overall care of the individual.¹ There has been improvement in the level of awareness of dementia in primary care…

References:1.Atri A. The Alzheimer's disease clinical spectrum: diagnosis and management. Med Clin North Am 2019; 103 (2): 263–293.

2.Knopman DS, Amieva H, Petersen RC, et al. Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Dis Primers…

The symptoms of AD can be generally divided into three categories – cognitive, functional, and neuropsychiatric. Cognitive symptoms in AD include memory, language, attention and executive functions, visuospatial skills and praxis (processing).² These impairments can manifest as memory loss (repeating…

References:1. Petersen RC, Wiste HJ, Weigand SD, et al. NIA-AA Alzheimer's disease framework: clinical characterization of stages. Ann Neurol 2021; 89 (6): 1145–1156.

2. Gauthier S, Reisberg B, Zaudig M, et al;…

New criteria for defining preclinical AD present with an ethical challenge as individuals with normal levels of cognition may be presented with new terms such as ‘preclinical Alzheimer’s pathological change’.⁷ Research is currently trying to understand the experience of individuals…

References:1.Crous-Bou M, Minguillón C, Gramunt N, Molinuevo JL. Alzheimer's disease prevention: from risk factors to early intervention. Alzheimers Res Ther 2017; 9 (1): 71.

2.Liss JL, Seleri Assunção S, Cummings J, et…

Current strategies to prevent AD include primary prevention strategies which identify risk reduction, and secondary prevention strategies which are based on early detection of pathophysiological hallmarks and preclinical intervention.⁶ New consensus diagnostic criteria for preclinical AD and identification of at-risk…

References:1.Knopman DS, Amieva H, Petersen RC, et al. Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Dis Primers 2021; 7 (1): 33.

2.Petersen RC, Wiste HJ, Weigand SD, et al. NIA-AA Alzheimer's disease framework: clinical characterization…