Mary Sano

Early diagnosis offers better planning opportunities, allows a patient to make choices for themselves while they can, and can put support systems in place earlier, that is also the best point at which to target current, as well as experimental, therapeutics.

I think we need to rethink our screening and assessment tools to be sure they are equally sensitive to men and women, better tests could be more sensitive memory tests or other cognitive tests that are more difficult.

By the time people ask for help, something strange has probably been going on for at least six months, and often, it’s family members and close friends who can provide a point of view that a change has occurred, which can allow that person to realize something is wrong.

We want to demonstrate that what’s really present is a cognitive problem and not a psychological or physical problem, for a younger person, we’ll do a more rigorous workup, including imaging and other tests, because we want to make sure we get this right.

They’re at risk for having more functional loss, and having their life and their family’s lives affected much more than someone who’s several decades older, and so the management of the disease really requires a lot of thoughtfulness and a lot of extra service.

Many people don’t know what this is and so they don’t seek advice when they see victims, it’s critically important to allow people to find out about the disease, and raise awareness about something they need to pay attention to—something they may even be living through.

Not being able to learn your new computer password, or to learn a new activity or take on a new project—those are usually the challenges at the earliest stages of the disease.

When we worked with her, we were impressed with her awareness of the impact of the disease—not only on the individuals, but on the people around them as well.