Alzheimer's disease: Visual system review

BACKGROUND: Ten million baby boomers in the United States will get Alzheimer's disease. Optometrists can benefit from understanding the impact the Alzheimer's disease process has on the visual system. This can result in more effective management of the condition and in more effective communication with members of the Alzheimer's disease multidisciplinary team. METHODS: This is a review of the literature but by no means a completely exhaustive review. Alzheimer's disease is a complex disease. A rapidly expanding body of knowledge covers multiple disciplines. RESULTS: The visual system shows deficits early in the degenerative process of Alzheimer's disease. Biomarkers through the visual system such as nerve fiber deficits, lens opacities, and functional losses in the magnocellular pathway, such as contrast sensitivity and temporal processing, may prove to not only help detect Alzheimer's disease early but also detect it before there are the classic cognitive and memory losses. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of Alzheimer's disease are devastating. Optometrists, as primary care clinicians, can make critical contributions in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of this neurodegenerative disease. Optometry 2010;81:12-21