Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis - How Is The Disease Treated
More than 24 million people worldwide are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease .The disease is the most common cause of dementia and there are many symptoms. It is usually many years before Alzheimer's disease diagnosis is done. In its early stages the loss of short term memory is one of its clearest symptoms. The disease is also known as AD in short. The first symptoms or health problems lead to confusion, long-term memory loss, language breakdown, anger, mood swings and other such symptoms. There are many areas of mental function and personality being affected because of the disease. One of the noticeable things in the development of Alzheimer's disease is that if it is developing rapidly it will progress rapidly and if it is developing slowly it will progress slowly. The areas of the brain affected include the judgment, attention, decision-making ability and other such functions of the brain.
The first step in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis is to prove and establish that dementia is there. The next thing that is found is the type of dementia. The doctor takes the history, conducts a physical exam, and does a mental status examination. A neurological examination is also done. Tests are held to determine if there is a condition that could be treated and that is causing dementia. There are a number of conditions that could be contributing to the onset of dementia like anemia, severe depression, drug and medicine intoxication, vitamin deficiency, thyroid disease, brain tumor or chronic infection. The effects on the health of a patient are also conspicuous.
Alzheimer's disease usually has a pattern of symptoms and the diagnosis can be done by history and physical examination. The medical practitioner takes the history of ailment of the patient and the physical examinations are taken. The tests that are done in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and dementia are computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and blood tests. An MRI scan shows the lessening in the size of the cortex of the brain or the hippocampus, which is that part of the brain responsible for memory. At the early stages the brain image scans are normal but in later stages these are the cases. The scans do not confirm the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease but they exclude other causes of dementia. These include stroke and tumor. In the advanced stages of the disease, the patient cannot survive without the aid of a caregiver or another person.
The process of aging is not graceful and Alzheimer's disease causes many hiccups. These are the various steps in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. These steps are carried out in finding the outcome. However, the disease is not the process of normal ageing, the older ones at the greater the risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease. These and other points make up the near impossibility of stopping the spread of the disease after the age of 65. Extensive research is going on to combat the disease.
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