Žilvinas Stepanavičius

Abstract

Summary

Alzheimer‘s disease is the most prevalent form of dementia. As the population ages, more resources are need for the care of patients with Alzheimer‘s disease. Alzheimer‘s disease is usually diagnosed in its late stages. The advantages of an early diagnosis of Alzheimer‘s disease are the following: without diagnosis the patient‘s behaviour is hardly understandable, relatives might blame the patient for his uncontrolled behaviour and deny the illness. Early diagnosis lets the patient to take part in choosing and planning the treatment. The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of mild cognitive impairment in early diagnosis of Alzheimer‘s disease. One of the main constructs used in the research of Alzheimer‘s disease is mild cognitive impairment. It can be a very helpful in the early diagnosis and prediction of the prodrome. The diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment is made in clinical practice in order to identify the patients with risk for Alzheimer‘s disease. Many concepts of mild cognitive impairment exist. It is important to define mild cognitive impairment with its typical criteria, but not with those for dementia diagnosis. This concept would be the basis for the future research and the prevention of Alzheimer‘s type dementia.

Keyword(s): Mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, early diagnosis.
DOI: 10.5200/24
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