Oral Presentation Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting 2025

Improving dementia diagnosis for People with Down syndrome (#87)

Madeleine Healy 1 2
  1. Aged and Rehabilitation Division, Monash Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  2. Dementia Support Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Ninety-five percent of people with Down syndrome will develop Alzheimer Disease with a median diagnosis of only 54 years of age. This is due to overproduction of amyloid from triplication of the APP gene of chromosome 21. Alzheimer Disease is now the leading cause of death for people with Down syndrome. Alzheimer Disease in the setting of Down syndrome is pathologically similar to sporadic and autosomal dominant Alzheimer Disease with a similar biomarker profile. However, even though there are around 15,000 Australians with Down syndrome, there are not currently specialised memory services or pathways for people with Down syndrome, or Intellectual Disability more broadly. There is an urgent and unmet need for clinical services, research and access to clinical trials for people with Intellectual Disability, including Down syndrome, in Australia.