MRI brain scans accurate in early diagnosis of Alzheimer...( Tampa FL (Dec. 18 2008) -- MRI scans...),Health

Tampa, FL (Dec. 18, 2008) -- MRI scans that detect shrinkage in specific regions of the mid-brain attacked by Alzheimer's disease accurately diagnose the neurodegenerative disease, even before symptoms interfere with daily function, a study by the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) in Miami and Tampa found.

The study, reported earlier this month in the journal Neurology, adds to a growing body of evidence indicating MRI brain scans provide valuable diagnostic information about Alzheimer's disease. The findings are important in light of many new disease-modifying drugs in trials -- treatments that may prevent mild memory loss from advancing to full-blown dementia if administered early enough.

"We advocate, based on these findings, that the criteria for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease should include MRI scans," said the study's lead author Ranjan Duara, MD, medical director of the Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders at Mount Sinai Medical Center who is affiliated with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and University of South Florida College of Medicine. "By incorporating MRIs into the assessment of patients with memory problems, early diagnosis can be standardized and done far more accurately."

"This study demonstrates that MRI brain scans are accurate enough to be clinically useful, both in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease itself at an early stage and in identifying people at risk of developing Alzheimer's," said Florida ADRC Center Director Huntington Potter, PhD, a neuroscientist at the Byrd Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute, University of South Florida.

Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia, is characterized by memory loss, disorientation, difficulty with reasoning and the decline of language and thinking skills. Alzheimer's is diagnosed by a process of elimination since many other diseases and related disorders can mimic its sym
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