Early detection won’t help dementia prognosis; Focus on prevention: Dutch Health Council

Early detection will not reduce the burden of dementia. The current methods for early detection are not yet reliable enough, and there is currently no effective treatment to halt or slow the disease’s progression, the Dutch Health Council said in advice to the government on Tuesday. Rather focus on prevention, the Health Council advised.

Due to the aging population, the number of people with dementia in the Netherlands is expected to increase. The Minister of Public Health, therefore, asked the Health Council to look into whether early detection could help counter this expected increase. Not at this stage, the Health Council concluded.

“The available methods for early diagnosis, particularly biomarker tests, are not reliable enough for widespread use outside of specialized hospital care,” the Health Council said. “Moreover, there is no effective therapeutic treatment available to halt or slow the disease progression in the event of early diagnosis.”

The Health Council advised the Minister to focus primarily on measures that can reduce the risk of developing dementia, instead of focusing on ways to detect it early.

According to the Health Council, it is well established that factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and obesity increase the risk of dementia. “The council recommends strengthening and broadening existing measures to prevent other chronic conditions with the same risk factors – such as cardiovascular diseases.”