Cognoscopy highly important for early detection of Alzheimer's: Expert

By Burcu Calik

ANKARA (AA) - A cognoscopy is very important for people over the age of 45 to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease at an early stage, a Turkish neurologist said Wednesday.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Dr. Kamil Kadir Topalkara said it is of great importance for people to keep diseases they have such as hypertension and diabetes under control, to quit smoking, and to have a healthy diet.

Pointing out the insidious course of Alzheimer's disease his practice tracks, he said that "generally, patients see us in the late period of amnesia. They come with problems learning new things, difficulty in naming, direction finding. Unfortunately, at this stage, the disease has already progressed."

Emphasizing the importance of the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's to halt the disease’s progress, he said the scanning of the brains of patients who are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s reveal that the pathology in the brain actually starts 20 years earlier.

"In other words, if a patient sees us with complaints at the age of 65, it is actually by reasons of existing problems that begin from the age of 45," he added.

Therefore, just as a cognoscopy is recommended for everyone over the age of 50, people in the risk groups should have regular checkups, he added.

Topalkara said people who are over the age of 45 and have a family history of Alzheimer’s or suspicion of amnesia are recommended to get a cognoscopy, which gives a detailed evaluation of a patient’s mental and cognitive functions.

"Alzheimer’s, which is generally seen in individuals over the age of 65, affects the cognitive functions of the brain such as memory, learning and planning," he said.

"It is very important for early diagnosis that people who have disorders that cause cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity and insulin resistance and those who smoke should have the test done periodically, starting from the age of 45."

-Vaccine, drug studies on Alzheimer's

Touching on the vaccine and drug studies carried out in recent years to cure Alzheimer’s, he said there is not a definite treatment for it yet, adding the studies focus on removing beta-amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brain of the patient at a high rate.

Topalkara said that in the first results obtained in the vaccine studies, although amyloid beta plaque in the brain disappeared, not much improvement could be observed in the patients clinically.

He added that a new drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June.

"I do not think that the Alzheimer's drug developed at this stage has a great clinical benefit.”