Diagnosing Alzheimer's: Would you want to know?

New guidelines for detecting Alzheimer's disease could see a dramatic rise in the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the future. A team of medical experts recently proposed using advanced technology like brain scans to detect early changes in the brain that could lead to Alzheimer's disease.

Experts are suggesting regularly screening of people at risk of the disease, even before symptoms of memory loss begin. Diagnosing the disease early on they argue, could potentially lead to new treatment and drug options that could halt the progression of damage to the brain that leads to dementia.

There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease. Drugs can help slow progression of dementia for some people if commenced early on, but for many sufferers of Alzheimer's disease a diagnosis comes too late. 

Most professionals argue that an early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease would help people plan for their future care. But would you want to know you're on the road to Alzheimer's when there is still no cure?

Judging from the comments in a recent article in the New York Times most people weren't too enthusiastic about the changes. A tool for a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease that everyone agrees on appears to be a long way off.