One third of people under 60 years of age with Alzheimer’s disease may not have memory problems, and show other symptoms, such as a change in behavior, language, executive function, and vision, researchers from the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, Spain, reported in the journal Neurology.

The scientists gathered data on 40 autopsies from the Neurological Tissue Bank-University of Barcelona-Hospital Clínic-IDIBAPS – all the patients had had Alzheimer’s disease.

They also found out when each patient started having Alzheimer’s signs and symptoms, and gathered details on their family histories.

38% of them did not have memory problems among their initial symptoms.

53% of those with no memory problems were initially misdiagnosed with other types of dementia, compared to 4% of patients whose initial symptoms included problems with memory. 47% of those with no initial memory problems were still not diagnosed accurately when they died.

Study author Albert Lladó, MD, PhD, said:

“People who develop early onset Alzheimer’s disease often experience these atypical symptoms rather than memory problems, which can make getting an accurate diagnosis difficult. Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders are needed for us to better recognize, diagnose and treat early onset Alzheimer’s disease sooner to improve the quality of life of these patients.”

“Clinical features and APOE genotype of pathologically proven early-onset Alzheimer disease”
M. Balasa, MD, E. Gelpi, MD, PhD, A. Antonell, PhD, M.J. Rey, MD, PhD, R. Sánchez-Valle, MD, PhD, J.L. Molinuevo, MD, PhD, A. Lladó, MD, PhD.
Neurology. May 17, 2011 vol. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31821a44dd

Written by Christian Nordqvist