During an interactive session at Becker's 14th Annual Meeting, leaders from Cleveland Clinic discussed the importance of early assessment and diagnosis to support the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The panelists included:
- Saket Saxena, MD, geriatrician at the Center for Geriatric Medicine at Cleveland Clinic
- Lynn Bekris, PhD, director of the Cleveland Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
- James Leverenz, MD, director of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health at the Cleveland Clinic
The speakers also discussed ongoing research at Cleveland Clinic related to the use of blood biomarkers in early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. They also highlighted the need for more neurodegenerative disease education and training among primary care providers due to the limited access to neurologists and other specialists.
The panelists emphasized the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in managing Alzheimer's disease, involving primary care physicians, specialists, social workers and caregivers.
They also discussed the potential of digital therapeutics and telehealth in improving access to care.
Note: Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
Here are four key takeaways from the panel discussion:
1. Access to care for patients with neurodegenerative diseases is a significant challenge.
"Access is probably the most important thing." - Dr. Saket Saxena
2. Biomarkers can help support the early detection of Alzheimer's. However, it's unclear how widespread the use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool will become. Some tests have yet to gain federal approval, and other approved tests are not yet widely used.
"Recently, the FDA gave approval for some biomarker blood tests. If we can get that word out that this is available, it will be used more often. The problem though is that we don't know have the infrastructure to integrate that kind of a thing into the broader healthcare system." - Dr. Lynn Bekris
3. Collaboration and integration of different service lines, such as IT, nursing and telehealth, are essential for comprehensive care for patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
"We have to work with our geriatrics and primary care clinicians to send us these patients and figure out the pathway." - Dr. James Leverenz
4. Education and training are necessary to equip healthcare providers with the knowledge and skills to diagnose and manage neurodegenerative diseases.
"We have to start diagnosing patients with neurodegeneration as we diagnose them with heart failure, as we diagnose them with diabetes." - Dr. Saket Saxena