Looking Backward to Move Forward: Early Detection of Neurodegenerative Disorders

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 302; no. 5646; pp. 830 - 834
• Main Authors: DeKosky, Steven T., Marek, Kenneth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 31.10.2003; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Aging; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Alzheimer Disease - genetics; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer's disease; Alzheimers disease; Biological markers; Biomarkers - analysis; Brain - metabolism; Brain - pathology; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Degeneration; Diagnostic Imaging; Diagnostic services; Disease manifestations; Dopamine - metabolism; Early detection; Evaluation; Genetic Markers; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Humans; Huntington disease; Huntington Disease - diagnosis; Huntington Disease - genetics; Huntington Disease - metabolism; Huntington Disease - pathology; Imaging; Memory; Molecular biology; Mutation; Nerve degeneration; Nervous system; Nervous system diseases; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurodegenerative Diseases - diagnosis; Neurodegenerative Diseases - genetics; Neurodegenerative Diseases - metabolism; Neurodegenerative Diseases - pathology; Neurological disorders; Neurology; Parkinson disease; Parkinson Disease - diagnosis; Parkinson Disease - genetics; Parkinson Disease - metabolism; Parkinson Disease - pathology; Parkinson's disease; Pathology; Reviews and Viewpoints; Time Factors; United States
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1090349

Early detection of neurodegenerative disorders would provide clues to the underlying pathobiology of these diseases and would enable more effective diagnosis and treatment of patients. Recent advances in molecular neuroscience have begun to provide the tools to detect diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and others early in their course and potentially even before the development of clinical manifestations of disease. These genetic, imaging, clinical, and biochemical tools are being validated in a number of studies. Early detection of these slowly progressive diseases offers the promise of presymptomatic diagnosis and, ultimately, of disease-modifying medications for use early in disease and during the presymptomatic period.