Alzheimers and Genetics-Is there a chance I may have "presymptomatic" markers?
A fellow caregiver asked...
My Paternal Grandmother and Paternal Great Grandmother both went in to Dementia, Alzheimer's and then death. My grandmother passed almost 20 years earlier than her own mother did from the disease. Is there a chance I may have "presymptomatic" markers?
Expert Answer
Ladislav Volicer, M.D., Ph.D., is recognized as an international expert on advanced dementia care. He is a courtesy full professor at the School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, and visiting professor at the Third Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Twenty-five years ago, he established one of the first dementia special care units.
It is possible that you might have some "presymptomatic markers" but you have to realize that it is not clear if and how they could predict development of dementia in individual cases. They are used only in clinical research.