Heightened Risk of Adverse Financial Changes Before Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

Newswise — WASHINGTON – Prior to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, a person in the early stages of the disease faces a heightened risk of adverse financial outcomes — a likely consequence of compromised decision making when managing money, in addition to exploitation and fraud by others. 

That is the disquieting conclusion of a study published Oct. 25 in the journal Health Economics.

Alzheimer’s disease isn’t usually diagnosed until symptoms are severe, and its progression typically involves a multi-year process of cognitive decline.

“Previous studies show that people in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s lose financial capacity; that is, their ability to manage their…