At least 10,000 people on Cape Cod are experiencing an accelerated form of cognitive loss, including dementia.
Last month, scientists reported some encouraging news: A blood test can prove more accurate than a cognitive test when it comes to diagnosing Alzheimer's disease.
"It's exciting that we're making developments and progress," said Molly Perdue, cofounder and executive director of the nonprofit Alzheimer's Family Support Center in Brewster. "And I think we're going to learn more as we keep investigating how to have a better sense of diagnosis."
Patrick Flanary What does this news immediately mean for people with Alzheimer's and dementia-related diseases?
Molly Perdue, PhD It's exciting to know that they are looking at a blood test that is going to help people have a more accurate diagnosis. I mean, you know, like many of these pieces to the Alzheimer's puzzle, there's other factors that come into play. So even though we now are finding that this new blood test has a very high accuracy, we know that that means in 10% of cases it doesn't correctly identify Alzheimer's. So we're not completely there yet.
There are other factors that we need to consider: Does it make sense to give a blood test to someone who may not be symptomatic? And the thinking is, no, that's not really ethical; we still need to have a confirmation of cognitive testing that is showing symptoms of cognitive loss.
PF Do you know what this could mean for doctors and whether their role will change?
MP You still want to continue with the cognitive testing. You still want to confirm the results with either a CT scan or a spinal tap. What the article talks about is trying to help those general practitioners be able to do a better job of identification. And I think that is going to be really helpful. I think our general practitioners really have their hands full trying to figure out what can be 150 different types of dementia-related diseases.
PF I'm wondering if you know how many people on Cape Cod are experiencing cognitive loss?
MP Yes, most of the Alzheimer's numbers are based on sample sizes, and we can estimate that anywhere from 10,000 to 13,000 people on Cape Cod are dealing with some accelerated form of cognitive loss.
We also know that means you can multiply that by two or three for family members who are becoming caregivers. In Massachusetts, we're talking around 130,000 people, which means 300,000 caregivers providing assistance. So, by extension, these diseases not only affect the person trying to live with it, but the family members and friends who are trying to help people live as they are progressing with cognitive loss.
PF Bring us up on the current information about Alzheimer's and dementia, and about what the Family Support Center is doing to help families dealing with it.
MP I'm a social scientist with my PhD, and I can tell you that families need not go it alone. I think there's a lot of fear and stigma that are prohibiting people from reaching out and trying to get help early on. But the best thing that someone can do if they're worried about their memory is reach out to their general practitioner or to an organization like the Alzheimer's Family Support Center. We try to be the connector to help people get to their medical doctors, get to their professionals, and create a plan of care that helps someone figure out what to do in the next three steps.
PF How close are we to a cure?
MP Researchers talk about an Alzheimer's cascade and how there are all these different influences, but I feel hopeful every time we read something about a new piece of research or a new piece of evidence that's helping us kind of put this puzzle together. I can tell you that until we do figure this out, the Alzheimer's Family Support Center will be there for the families in our community.
