New Alzheimer's guidelines tap precursors to the disease

[BridgeTheGap]

CHICAGO — The first new U.S. diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease released in 27 years paint the disorder as a disease that occurs gradually over many years, starting with changes in the brain, then mild memory problems and finally progressing to full-blown dementia.

Released on Tuesday by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association, the guidelines officially recognize mild cognitive impairment or MCI — first described more than a decade ago — as a precursor to the disease.

And they add a new research category known as preclinical Alzheimer's, the earliest stage of the disease when clumps of a protein called amyloid are just beginning to form in the brains of people who are otherwise healthy.

This preclinical stage about 10 years before dementia sets in is seen as the best place to intervene in the disease. It is why new imaging agents for PET scans, spinal fluid tests and other so-called biomarkers that predict Alzheimer's are becoming so important to researchers and drug companies.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42653936/ns/health-alzheimers_disease