An estimated 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. That’s over 14 percent of the estimated number of U.S. citizens over the age of 65 – the age bracket at which the disease is generally diagnosed.

Just as the number of people who contract Alzheimer’s disease is expected to spike dramatically, scientists are on the verge of discovering new treatments and means for early detection of the disease. The two go hand-in-hand for this illness, and a breakthrough in one area could make the other advance.

The problem with trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s is that, by the time that it can be identified through its symptoms, the patient is already in the late stages. And scientists believe that some treatments that were deemed not to have any significant effects on patients could have been more effective during the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s.

William H. Thies, chief medical and science officer for the Alzheimer’s Association, told HealthDay.com, “there’s no doubt in my mind that, as an effective therapy emerges that slows down the course of the disease, we will find the marker for it.” Ironically, in order to find out which therapies work, an indicator of the disease needs to be proven.

“The two are linked almost arm-in-arm and will develop together. Advances in one will drag the other along,” says Thies. And, a large slate of Alzheimer’s drugs is now undergoing human trials. But advances are being made on both fronts.

Much of the research for Alzheimer’s is focused on amyloid, a protein that clumps in the brains of patients. The drugs that are being produced to treat Alzheimer’s are targeted at reducing amyloid accumulation. On the other hand, the disease is now identifiable using substances that bind to amyloid, which can be seen using PET scans, to identify the disease. Previously, the only way to identify amyloid clumps was during an autopsy.

Mr. Thies is excited and challenged by this dilemma, rather than succumbing to frustration. Despite this, I feel that more funding should go to research on Alzheimer’s disease. At the moment, it gets a fraction of what better known diseases like HIV/AIDS and heart diseases get from the government. As we learn more about Alzheimer’s and gain a better understanding of its symptoms and the course of the illness, science will surely find a way to prevent and treat the condition before it becomes too late for those who have the disease.