Alzheimer’s disease unfolds over the course of decades.  Despite the intensive search, there are no accurate and reliable biological markers for Alzheimer’s disease.  Diagnosis is based on a combination of factors including details of course and history gathered from the person who has memory loss as well as family and/or friends.   There must also be a medical work up searching for treatable causes of memory loss such as thyroid function, status of diabetes, anemia, and imaging studies.  The standard of care also requires cognitive evaluation to map out strengths and weaknesses and stage the disease.  Finally, diagnosis requires clinical judgment. There is a push for a new set of criteria that diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease into three stages and is based on the fact that Alzheimer’s disease begins well before symptoms emerge (Practical Neurology, 2013, March/April, 34-35)).  The first stage is […]