People in their sixties should be routinely screened for the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, experts have urged.
The over-65s should be given simple memory tests at GP surgeries every few years so that the disease can be caught while it is still treatable, said Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge.
She was among a group of global experts calling for screening and prevention techniques to become as widespread for mental health problems as they are for physical ones such as heart disease and cancer.
Vulnerable adololescents could one day be screened for the early signs of depression or schizophrenia so that preventive treatment could head off the worst ravages of the disorders, the experts said.
Professor Sahakian said it was “shocking” that many dementia patients were not diagnosed until their mental decline had become so severe that few treatments are available.
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Drugs such as Aricept, known as cholinesterase inhibitors, are already known to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s in its early stages, while other “neuroprotective” drugs are in the later stages of clinical trials.
Professor Sahakian said: “We want to ensure that people developing Alzheimer’s disease get these as early as possible and before extensive brain damage. How can we do this if we do not screen? If people very early in the course of Alzheimer’s disease do get effective neuroprotective drugs, this will maintain their functional outcome, mental capital and wellbeing.”
The NHS has not so far offered screening because the Department of Health does not believe screening tests are yet effective enough.
But Professor Sahakian says methods do exist, including a simple memory test she helped develop. “The CANTAB PAL runs on a touch sensitive computer screen and takes about ten minutes, so it is non-invasive, quick and easy for screening in a GP surgery for the very early stages of Alzheimer’s disease in over-65s,” she said.
This could be combined with other biomarkers, such as blood tests or spinal fluid tests for those thought to be most at risk. “We’ve got so many of them good to go and it’s about deciding which are the very best,” she said.
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>An international initiative to improve the treatment of mental health, launched in the journal Nature, is urging more focus on screening and prevention.
Professor Shitaj Kumar, of King’s College London, said huge progress has been made in preventing heart attacks by monitoring early warning signs such as high blood pressure, and the same philosophy must be applied to mental illnesses. “That is what the future will look like,” he said, citing depression and schizophrenia as areas where early intervention would improve results.
Dr Anne Corbett, Research Manager at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Improved diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia is essential to ensure people have access to treatment, information and the support they need. However, current diagnostic tests are not accurate enough to identify early signs by screening people as young as 60. Alzheimer’s Society would, however, welcome a debate on the value of screening for dementia in people over 75.”
Paul Burstow, the Care Services Minister, said: “The Department welcomes information about any research findings in this area. Improving the quality of care for people with dementia and their carers remains a major priority for this Government. Early diagnosis is key.”