What is included in the Alzheimer test?
Alzheimer's disease is a disease that is difficult to diagnose. A large battery of medical tests has been developed to verify dementia, but the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease as a cause of dementia in patients is often only 90 percent accurate. The basic elements of the Alzheimer test are mental and physical evaluation and family history. Finally, the only method is to obtain a definitive diagnosis of an autopsy, during which healthcare workers can document brain shrinkage and brain cell damage that are characterized by the signs of the disease.
The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is so difficult that Alzheimer's test is more about the exclusion of diseases other than to determine the disease itself. Testing will therefore begin with questions about drugs and other factors that could cause abnormal symptoms. The healthcare provider asks for medicines, supplements, diet and alcohol consumption, recent injuries and other diagnosticos. For example, head injury, alcohol use or side effects of drugs couldexplain the rude speech and balance problems. Mental health problems such as depression may result in impaired social skills, confusion and loss of memory, some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
Family history is a key problem in determining the likelihood of Alzheimer's disease. If the patient's relatives suffered from dementia or related disease, this will be taken into account during the Alzheimer test. Related family history can pair with test results that indicate cognitive damage can be strongly directed towards a positive diagnosis. If the patient is unable to answer questions about medical history and current health problems, the caregiver or family member may provide the required information.
Mental assessment is the next step in Alzheimer's test. The purpose of this test is double. Allows the doctor to determine how much information the patient knows about or about their ownThe surroundings, as well as whether he is aware of any mental disability. The patient's mental mental state is the most common text to evaluate the patient's mental capacity. The doctor will ask questions about the date, time, placement, rooms in the room and the names of people.
The patient may also be asked to remember words or phrases and repeat them or follow a set of simple instructions. The test results are usually evaluated from a possible 30 points. The score of 24 to 20 refers to a slight dementia, the score between 13 and 20 indicates a slight dementia and the score of less than 13 indicates a serious dementia.
Comprehensive physical examination is the last element of Alzheimer test. Hearing and vision tests could eliminate the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, because the problems with vision and hearing can Cause confusion, communication problems and dizziness often associate with the disease. Blood pressure, thyroid and liver function, lung function and temperature are also measured. These are important considerations in the exclusion of other conditions that haveSymptoms similar to Alzheimer.
The neurological part of the physical causes evaluation of walking, reflexes, coordination, muscle tone, speech and eye movement. Determination of any damage to the nervous system or identification of neurological disorders in the patient could as a possibility to exclude Alzheimer's disease. Dizziness, problems with mobility and impaired speech are common symptoms of neurological problems that do not apply to dementia.
Laboratory tests are not always performed as part of the Alzheimer disease test, but blood and urine testing can play a role in eliminating other health problems. For example, a blood test could identify the anemia and the lack of vitamin B12 as the cause of hallucinations, which are often symptoms of dementia. Frove can be administered by tests of Olát, blood glucose and electrolytes, as abnormal levels of these substances can cause a gradual mental decline. In addition, a computer's scan can be used to check blood clots, tumors and stroke evidenceoography (CT), scanning positron emissions (PET) or magnetic resonance (MRI).
Medical experts worked to increase the potential of MRI during Alzheimer's testing. It has been determined that the brain of the patient Alzheimer decreases the progression of the disease, which could be identified by MRI. Further use of PET scanning can also be used in the future to recognize reduced brain cell activity in certain areas of the brain. A certain connection between this activity and the definitive Alzheimer diagnosis were not found, but advances in the diagnosis of the disease are likely to lead to increasingly accurate methods of Alzheimer testing.