By the year 2050, about 30 million Americans are expected to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Experts in the field are trying to determine if sophisticated imaging equipment can help predict the development of the disease.

At 81, Alberta Sabin’s mind is not as sharp as it used to be, and she knows it. She frequently misplaces common items, forgets names and appointments, some of the most frustrating aspects of memory loss, she says.

It is that frustration that motivated Sabin to participate in U-M sponsored research designed to better diagnose and treat dementia before it escalates.

Sabin is one of millions of Americans who experience memory loss and may eventually be diagnosed with dementia.

“This is an explosive disease,” says Sid Gilman, M.D., director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at University of Michigan Health System, who conducts research with Sabin and others in her community. “It’s a horrible disease that robs people of their humanity. They forget their families and friends.”

Roughly 50 percent of people who reach 85 will become demented, according to studies conducted by investigators at Rush Medical Center in Chicago.

By age 100, the number spikes to 60 percent. Of those who develop dementia, roughly 60 percent will prove to have Alzheimer’s disease. It’s predicted that the current number of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States is roughly 5 million. By the year 2050, it will grow to about 30 million, presenting a significant financial burden to the healthcare system.

Gilman and other researchers at the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (MADRC), have a keen interest in patients like Sabin. The center first received grant support from the National Institutes of Health in 1989 and has continued to receive funding since.

Researchers at the MADRC have so far studied 80 patients in a project that has been going on for four years on the diagnosis of Alzheimer's at the earliest sign of cognitive dysfunction. Researchers would ultimately like to evaluate 120.

One of the goals of the research is to determine the best tool for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: PET scans or clinical evaluations. In addition to Alzheimer’s disease, there are other possible diagnoses with early onset cognitive impairment, including multiple strokes, frontotemporal dementia, corticobasal degeneration, and the cognitive disorder associated with Parkinson’s disease, which is termed dementia with Lewy bodies.

“The earliest possible treatment for Alzheimer’s disease would be to the patient’s greatest advantage,” Gilman says.

"PET, or positron emission tomography, helps doctors predict Alzheimer's disease. (Credit: University of Michigan Health System)"

Source: University of Michigan Health System