Simple Verbal Memory Test May Be Best Indicator of Pre-Symptom Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's affects about one in 10 Americans over 65 and nearly half over 85. The degenerative brain disease usually begins gradually, causing a person to forget recent events or familiar tasks. How rapidly it advances varies from person to person, but the disease eventually leads to confusion, personality and behavior changes and impaired judgment. Communication becomes more difficult as the disease progresses, leaving those affected struggling to find words, finish thoughts or follow directions. Eventually, most people with Alzheimer's disease become unable to care for themselves.

Because there's currently no cure and just several drugs that can help stave off the devastating symptoms when taken early in the disease, early diagnosis of Alzheimer's is an area of research generating considerable attention. At this time, Alzheimer's can only be definitively diagnosed by examining the brain after the patient has died. Diagnosis in living patients is generally done through a lengthy process of elimination--with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans, mental evaluations and blood and urine tests performed to rule out other possible causes of dementia.

Some of the most recent studies have found that verbal memory tests are the best overall predictor of pre- and early-symptom Alzheimer's in the elderly, beating out the imaging tests and several other mental evaluations such as constructing objects, connecting dots, figuring out mazes and executive function tests, which assess ability to plan ahead. Researchers are suggesting that the California Verbal Learning Test, in which volunteers were read a list of 15 words several times and then asked to recall them 20 minutes later, was nearly 100% accurate in predicting who would go on to eventually develop AlzheimerÂ’s.

Other verbal memory tasks, such as recalling categories of words or being able to remember terms for a short period of time, also proved useful, pinpointing the patients who would go on to develop Alzheimer's at least 80% of the time.

In addition to offering patients the opportunity to benefit from drugs that delay symptom onset, knowing you are in the pre-symptom or early-stages of Alzheimer's allows an individual to have a better chance to plan their lives, for instance, organizing their financial affairs and, if they have something they've always wanted to do, knowing they probably want to do it sooner rather than later. Additionally, there is extensive ongoing research being done on disrupting the disease's progress, so knowing how to diagnose it early before the irreversible damage occurs could someday be of utmost value.