Alzheimer's Diagnosis at 57 Shows Power of Intervention

Losing the job he'd held for three decades was the first real sign something was wrong, writes physician Brent Beasley in the Wall Street Journal—though nobody yet knew it was early Alzheimer's. Two years ago, he writes, "my supervisor called me into her office and fired me. I was forgetting instructions and struggling with technologies I had always handled with ease. She probably thought I had a substance-abuse problem." It turned out that he had undiagnosed Alzheimer's disease at 57. Nearly a year of tests followed before a blood biomarker, PET scan, and spinal tap confirmed the diagnosis.

Catching it then, Beasley argues, changed everything: early detection meant access to lifestyle strategies and a new anti-amyloid drug that he says helped restore his clarity to the point where he told his wife after a church service, "I'm back." More than two years after his diagnosis, he says he is "living a joyful, purposeful life." He says that despite his medical connections, it took a long time for his case to go through the system. "Diagnosing Alzheimer's early is like finding stage one cancer rather than stage four," he writes. "If you catch it early, you can pursue lifestyle or medical interventions to slow the disease."

Beasley uses his case to make a broader policy plea for making detecting the disease early a national priority. With up to 40% of dementia cases potentially preventable or delayable through early action, he says a system geared to late-stage crisis care is failing patients—especially those without medical connections, money, or nearby specialists. "If it was difficult for me, a physician with a dedicated spouse, to get diagnosed in time, imagine how hard it can be for others," he writes.

He calls for expanded access to blood tests "so that patients can be diagnosed before their brains are permanently damaged," insurance coverage for FDA-approved drugs, primary-care-led detection, and robust caregiver support. "An Alzheimer's diagnosis doesn't have to be the devastating blow that it once was," he writes. "We now have the science to help patients like me stay cognitively healthy and engaged. But without a national effort to ensure the disease is diagnosed and treated early, those breakthroughs will never reach the people who need them most." Click here for his full essay.