The rate at which Alzheimer’s disease progresses varies greatly between patients.  Clinicians are often asked by patients and their families to predict the rate of decline, however there is currently little data available to base such predictions on.  In research published in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy this week, Doody et al. have used a simple, calculated progression rate at initial visit to predict future performance of patients at assessments of cognition and activities of daily living.

Predicting
progression of Alzheimer’s disease
Rachelle

Chan
Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy

2010,

2:2

(23 February 2010)
Abstract
|

Provisional
PDF

Their research may have implications for research as well as the clinic.  Incorporating pre-progression rates into clinical trial design should enhance the power of such studies to find real treatment differences.  And their inclusion in trial design may reduce the duration of trials investigating disease-modifying treatments that could potentially benefit patients with this devastating condition.