June IDG Meeting - Women and alzheimer's

Dr. Dale Bredesen is the Sr. Director of Precision Brain Health at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. He strongly encouraged us to take steps to slow down and perhaps even prevent the development of Alzheimer's. Early detection of symptoms is critical in the early phases of this disease. He delineates the four phases as such:

Phase One: You are asymptomatic, but signs of the disease can be determined through blood tests, a detection of a specific gene called ApoE4, PET scans, and a cognoscopy (a measurement of one's cognitive functioning).

Phase Two: the Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI) phase lasts two to ten years. At this point, people self-report some trouble with memory and other cognitive tasks.

Phase Three: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) signs appear. People will score abnormally on most cognitive tests and perform worse year over year. However, they can still perform normally on everyday tasks.

Phase Four: At this point, full dementia has set in. 

Dr. Bredesen recommends everyone over the age of 40 be assessed for Stage One. PNI is one place that offers such assessments. If you wish to learn more, Dr. Bredesen has also written several books on this subject including the NYT bestseller, "The End of Alzheimer's" (2017).