The Outpatient Comprehensive Assessment Team (EAIA) for Cognitive Impairment at Parc Taulí makes about 1.000 first visits a year to people with some type of cognitive impairment. Of these visits, 60% of dementias are due to Alzheimer's Disease.
It is a chronic and degenerative disease that has a high incidence in aging populations like ours. In fact, 2,5% of the population over 65 and 40% of people over 85 suffer from it.
The prognosis of the disease is variable, since more than ten years can pass from the time it is diagnosed until it reaches the most advanced stages. Despite this, Parc Taulí caters, more and more, to young people with some type of cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer's.
For this reason, early detection of the disease is essential to start a pharmacological or other treatment, such as cognitive stimulation, a healthy diet or encouraging physical exercise, to delay the course of this type of cognitive impairment.
Main symptoms of the disease
In most cases, memory impairment and disorientation are the most common cognitive symptoms in the early stages of Alzheimer's. As the disease progresses, other spheres are affected, such as language and others, which are decisive for people's autonomy.
In the course of Alzheimer's, emotional and sleep disorders or changes in behavior are also frequent and become alterations that must be taken into account for a more optimal approach.
The loss of mobility or the appearance of involuntary movements tend to be more frequent in the more advanced phases of the disease. So, as the disease progresses, the person loses the ability to do activities of daily living and becomes dependent on a third party.
Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease
Early detection is very important to establish an accurate diagnosis and a comprehensive approach to the disease.
In recent years, part of medical research has focused on the search for biomarkers that allow a diagnosis to be made in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's. Currently, there are biological biomarkers - present in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma - and biomarkers based on imaging tests focused on this area.
However, another part of the research has been aimed at finding drugs that can modify the course of the disease. In fact, in the last year there have been great advances thanks to clinical trials with monoclonal antibodies, for example directed against Amyloid.
In July 2023, the Food and Drug Administration Agency of the United States (FDA) approved one of them (Lecanemab), and its care use has already begun in the United States. In Europe, on the other hand, this drug is pending review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other potentially useful molecules are currently being tested to treat the disease.
World Alzheimer's Day
World Alzheimer's Day is celebrated on September 21, which aims to raise awareness of the disease and its consequences in the health and social spheres.
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