Misdiagnosis of Alzheimer's 'high with atypical symptoms'

Over half of under-60s with Alzheimer's disease are misdiagnosed with other neural conditions if they do not have memory loss, research has shown.

Research published in journal Neurology found that 38 per cent of patients initially experienced symptoms other than memory loss, such as behaviour, vision or language problems.

Of this group with unusual symptoms, 53 per cent were diagnosed incorrectly when first seen by a doctor. This is compared to just four per cent misdiagnosis in patients who did exhibit memory problems.

Furthermore, 47 per cent of those with atypical Alzheimer's symptoms were still incorrectly diagnosed at the time of their death.

Study author Albert Llado, of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, said: "Biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and other disorders are needed for us to better recognise, diagnose and treat early onset Alzheimer's disease sooner to improve the quality of life of these patients."

In other Alzheimer's news, two proteins involved in the condition could work together to cause cell death.

Amyloid beta and tau were seen to combine to adversely affect the energy centres of brain cells, according to a study published online in journal Neurobiology of Aging.

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