Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a medical neurological disease that is often associated with the baby boomers. It is a degenerative disease that affects cognition and memory with the symptoms progressing over a period of 7-10 years, rendering the sufferer incapable of recognizing people close to them, remembering much about their lives, incoherent speech, poor movement coordination, and inability to use the toilet on their own. Note that Alzheimer's disease doesn't kill someone directly but makes them unable to take care of themselves, hence making them vulnerable to other diseases that may significantly lead to death.

Alzheimer's disease is quite difficult to diagnose as there is no single test that can clearly diagnose the disease even though imaging technology is designed to detect the tangles and plagues of Alzheimer's disease. As such, a thorough diagnostic workup is needed to rule out all possible causes of an individual's Alzheimer's like symptoms with the hope of reversing or treating the condition. If the cause of the disease isn't treatable or reversible, the aim is to help the individual manage the symptoms through behavior management and medical treatments. Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease includes the following:-

- Medical History - this covers questions about previous illnesses, previous surgeries or injuries, and any current chronic conditions so that the possible causes of Alzheimer's-like symptoms could be identified

- Medication history - covers allergies, any side effects from previous medications, and current medications and dosages the patient is using. This helps in determining future prescription as well as identifying an overdosage or medical interaction that may cause the symptoms

- Mood evaluation - covers assessment of depression or anxiety which may create Alzheimer's-like symptoms in baby boomers and occur concomitantly with the disease.

- Mental status exam - this is a research-based set of questions that include the assessment of concentration, memory and other cognitive skills where the resulting score shows an overall level of impairment.

- Complete physical examination - this assesses all the basic indicators of the disease and health such as blood pressure, vision, hearing, pulse, etc.

- Laboratory tests - the tests will vary depending on the current symptoms one is exhibiting with the most common being blood test and urinalysis.

- Neurological examination - assesses the motor system - gait, reflexes, sensory functioning etc

- Imaging procedures - detailed photos of the brain like MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging), CT scan (computed tomography), and PET scan (positron emission tomography) to help identify the changes in the structure or size of the brain that could indicate Alzheimer's or other brain-linked conditions like hydrocephalus, strokes, blood clots, brain tumors, etc.

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