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I would like to add that the article was helpful and that I think my spouse, diagnosed with Early Stage Alzheimer’s at age 75, does not have familial Alzheimer’s. The article says that “people with FAD usually start showing symptoms earlier, often in their 40s and 50s, instead of later in life.” Some people who are over age 65 describe their diagnosis as “early onset” but since they are 65+, would the correct term be early stage Alzheimer’s? I thought early onset was before age 65. Thank you.
@A myALZteam Member: You are absolutely right. Many people confuse the two terms.
To be clear:
● Early ONSET means the patient was diagnosed before age 65.
● Early STAGE means that the symptoms of the disease are mild.
A patient of any age can have mild symptoms.
@A myALZteam Member The confusion you are flagging has been noted before on this site. Some members spoke of "Early Onset, confusing it with "Early Stage" All you say you have read in that article on myALZteam including your conclusion "early onset [is] before age 65," agrees with all the relevant scientific literature. So you are very right in stating it once more! The two are genetically speaking different diseases, and the differences in genetics have been known for over 30 years. Most often the common version, Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease (LOAD), is associated with a particular genetic mutation APOE4.
The age distinction of 65+ years old seems to be quite reliable. When my wife was found to have this APOE4 mutation I had asked the academic specialist neurologist if it made sense to also look for the set of mutations that are very strongly associated with Early Onset AD, I was quite insistent and he discussed my request with another professor in another French university who agreed that it would not make sense. However, here comes another issue: I had noticed some behavioral changes my wife had developed before the age of 65, and that was the reason for my insistent request.
Having read much more I now recognize that those behavioral changes could be attributed to MCI (mild cognitive impairment) also mentioned in @A myALZteam Member 's Answer above. MCI precedes the FAST stages (see copious posts by @A myALZteam Member ) and blood tests and other tests, but it can be revealed in the MMSE or MOCA or other neuropsychological investigations. What these tests boil down to is that the person thinks a little differently from "normal" people, is a little bit less critical of their thoughts and impulses, and has a reduced attention span and retention of data while working on something else. I would only disagree with Spankie where she writes that MCI "would probably go into familial Alzheimer’s." Given her husband's age at diagnosis it would go into LOAD. The term Familial Alzheimer's is normally reserved for the much less common (only 1% as Susan Cox notes in her Question) Early Onset, and it reflects that it strongly "runs in a family," and that the genetics are much more "penetrating" than APOE4 associated with LOAD.
Thank you everyone. In support groups (virtual ones) there have been several caregivers of loved ones diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in their 40s and 50s. The consequences of lost jobs, lack of independence at an extremely young age is very devastating to those individuals. It almost seems like a different disease, although it has the same outcome at the end. On this site, the term “familial Alzheimer’s” sounds like that type, diagnosed well before 65. I had not heard the expression “late onset” which must be referring to over age 65. Vocabulary is important.
Both my husbands parents had Alzheimer's and now he has it too. One of his parents had Parkinsons as well.
What if we both have it?
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