The progression of Alzheimer’s disease unfolds over the course of decades. We lose valuable time by ignoring changes in memory and waiting for a medical diagnosis to take action. By the time current medical screenings detect significant decline we have lost years of valuable time and quality of life. We are too conservative about rigorously evaluating memory but appropriately careful about making a medical diagnosis such as Alzheimer’s disease. By treating Alzheimer’s disease as a medical rather than a memory problem, we miss the opportunity to get ahead of the changes and directly treat memory while the mind still works well. We lose the opportunity to build skills we will need to protect our family and ourselves. The unfolding of early Alzheimer’s disease overlaps with normal aging. This process can be described in alternative ways. One way of viewing the […]
“Money Woes Can Be an Early Clue to Alzheimer’s.” This is an attention grabbing headline from the November 4th edition of the New York Times. The point of the article is to inform that complex decision-making may be the first sign of Alzheimer’s that catches attention. We often dismiss mild memory loss as another senior moment rather than a call to action. The changes are so small that complex problem solving is ignored. I once had a client who received attention only after he bought his plane ticket to pick up the $17 million he had won from the publisher’s clearing house. The dilemma is to determine competency. This is a very complex legal issue that faces families, medical professional, financial advisors, and attorneys alike. Financial decisions have important impact on not only the person with Alzheimer’s disease but also […]
An opinion presented in the New York Times by Sandra Day O’Connor, Stanley Prusiner, and Ken Dychtwald (October 28, 2010) presents a plan on “How to resist the coming wave of fatal dementia.” They present sobering facts to make their case. Alzheimer’s is 100% incurable and 100% fatal (100% of us will die but most will not die with Alzheimer’s). There are 5 million cases of Alzheimer’s in the United States today and there will be an estimated 13.5 million cases by 2050. They remind us of the rush of baby boomers that start on January 1st. Further, they state that we cannot avoid Alzheimer’s by medical checkups, exercise, being social, or engaging in stimulating mental activities. Finally, they bemoan the lack of medications that are presently helpful and the limits of the effectiveness of the medications to reverse the […]
A recent report in the journal Brain indicates that ratings from family and friends better predict early signs of memory decline than do traditional medical screenings that are so commonly given to detect and monitor those with possible Alzheimer’s disease or other brain disorders that may be progressive. The questionnaire used in the study is called the Ascertain Dementia 8 and takes only about two minutes to complete. The Ascertain Dementia 8 provides a low cost screen to detect those who need more thorough follow-up evaluation to determine the causes of noted problems. This study is a reminder that a thorough evaluation for memory disorders requires both technical evaluation such as neuropsychological and medical tests and a thorough history. A good history is obtained not only from self-report (which can be tricky if you forget that you forget) but also […]
What Treatment Strategies for all Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease When Tuesday, October 5, 2010 8:00pm – All Ages Where (map) Other InfoDr. Beckwith will hold a free workshop on October 5 from 11-12:30. He will speak on Treatment Strategies for all stages of Alzheimer’s Disease at the First Presbyterian Church in Naples, FL. Call the Alzheimer’s Support Network 262-8388 for reservations and directions. « Back to the calendar
I was recently moderating a support group for families caring for a parent or sibling with Alzheimer’s disease. One of the participants was 60 years old and after some discussion of her mother she turned and asked: “What about me?” She is noticing changes in her memory and concerned as was her 39 year old daughter sitting next to her. She reported no clear memory deficits but was worrying about her future and whether her current memory concerns were normal for her age, a result of the stress of caregiving, or signs that she may one day develop Alzheimer’s disease. I am hearing this question more and more. Clearly, there is an increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s if someone in your family is diagnosed with the disease. For example, I recall a retired physician who sought evaluation as he was […]
A new study in the journal Neurology asserts that a spinal tap can accurately detect the development of Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear. As quoted in The New Republic, “The unexpected presence of the AD signature in more than one-third of cognitively normal subjects suggests that Alzheimer’s pathology is active and detectable earlier than has heretofore been envisioned.” The “AD signature” is the presence of a protein called beta-amyloid in the spinal fluid. The implication is that people can be accurately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease years before they develop symptoms. This all sounds so neat and clean like genetic testing for neurological diseases such as Huntington’s chorea. As technologies like spinal taps and brain scans become more available outside of research settings, there seems to be increased interest in using them as diagnostic tools. But I feel we are getting […]
