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Alzheimer’s Test |
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Experts say that there are about 4 million people in the
United States that exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. However, out of
this 4 million, only about a third is aware that they even have this
illness. The reason is that the early signs of Alzheimer’s are often
difficult to identify, much less distinguish from the slight memory lapses
that people experience as they go through the normal aging process.
Doctors are saying that early diagnosis could be the key to preventing the
symptoms of the disease from becoming worse. Much of the Alzheimer’s
medication available today are designed to treat the early symptoms of the
illness so for patients to benefit from this treatment, they need some form
of Alzheimer’s test that would enable them to identify the symptoms of the
disease at an earlier time.
The good news is that the market has exactly this kind of Alzheimer’s test
that can help patients identify Alzheimer’s symptoms early. A professor of
psychology at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Paul Solomon,
has developed a new tool for testing people for the early signs of
Alzhiemer’s disease as well as other forms of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia that usually affects
people over the age of 65 years. It is a disorder of the brain’s cognitive
functions, resulting in degeneration of memory, thinking skills, reasoning
abilities, and the ability to perform daily activities. The disease is
progressive, which means that the symptoms become worse over time. Those who
get diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease often have eight to ten years more to
live, depending on how fast the disease progresses or how early the symptoms
were detected.
The Alzheimer’s test that Professor Solomon developed is called the 7 Minute
Screen. It is actually comprised of four Alzheimer’s tests that can be
administered in less than 10 minutes, or exactly seven minutes and 43
seconds on the average, by anyone who has had an hour of basic training.
The 7-Minute Alzheimer’s test was patterned after the designs of four older
psychological test models but with improvements added to make it more
sensitive to detecting dementia. Specifically, the Alzheimer’s test zeroes
in on tasks that a person with Alzheimer’s would find difficult to do.
We are in an age where managed care cannot afford a single second to lose.
So the short time it would take for this Alzheimer’s test to deliver results
is a major selling point.
Solomon says that “doctors don’t have seven seconds, much less seven
minutes.”
However, it should be taken into account that an Alzheimer’s test this quick
is only capable of identifying people with impairments in memory, reasoning,
and other mental tasks – all of which could be signs of other dysfunctions
or disorders not only Alzheimer’s. For a more thorough and accurate
diagnosis, a more complicated, time-consuming Alzheimer’s test method is
required and one that no 7-minute package can provide. |
| This article
is provided courtesy of Roxanne Courtmanch. Please visit
www.thehelpingcircle.com for more articles on Alzheimers
as well as many other topics that may be of interest to you. |
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