By Neil Hardman
Memory loss can happen at any age and can have many causes. It is certainly not possible to diagnose the cause yourself.
Confusion can also have other causes besides dementia, such as poor sight or hearing; emotional changes and upsets, such as moving or bereavement; or the side-effects of certain drugs or combinations of drugs.
Memory loss doesn't necessarily mean that you or someone you know has Alzheimer's. Stress, depression and heavy drinking can all contribute to memory loss, as can a number of other medical conditions.
Talk to your physician if you feel that you, or someone you care for, may be showing the early symptoms of Alzheimer's.
Early diagnosis will allow treatable conditions which may have symptoms similar to dementia to be ruled out. The sooner a person is assessed and can be treated, the better.
Early symptoms:
Difficulty remembering recent events, poor judgment and decision making, inability to manage a budget, losing track of the date or the season, difficulty having a conversation, repeating the same stories over and over again, misplacing things and being unable to retrace steps to find them, changes in mood and personality, inappropriate social behavior, withdrawal from work or social activities, new problems with spoken and written words, trouble understanding visual images, difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure.
The time it takes to make a diagnosis associated with memory loss can vary. If scans and other investigations are required, these might take 4-12 weeks, depending on waiting lists.
If the person is in the early stages of dementia, a 6-12 month period of monitoring may be required before a diagnosis can be made, and this may vary from country to country. New technologies and novel applications of imaging techniques are rapidly evolving, offering promise for enhanced diagnosis in the future.
Our understanding of Alzheimer's is rapidly growing. 35 years ago it was regarded as a hopelessly untreatable condition which attracted little interest or support from researchers. 25 years ago ideas about prevention or cure were unthinkable, and 20 years ago the knowledge of biological underpinnings and the genes associated with the disease had not been identified.
15 years ago, animal models of Alzheimer's were not available, whilst ten years ago doctors were unable to identify a person's risk factor of developing Alzheimer's. Nine years ago one of the hallmarks of the disease - beta-amyloid protein, couldn't be directly visualised in patients, whilst today the field is on the brink of major breakthroughs that may lead to more effective treatment, and, it's hoped, to protection.
A biomarker (also known as a biological marker) is something that helps measure a normal biological process, a disease or response to a treatment.
Biomarkers may be used to identify people who are at risk years or even decades before symptoms appear. One of the most important goals of neuroscience research is to develop and validate biomarkers that can detect and identify disorders early.
Today, progress is being made in developing biomarkers relevant to Alzheimer's drug development, especially those that characterize disease progression.
Memory loss can happen at any age and can have many causes. It is certainly not possible to diagnose the cause yourself. Find out more at: http://www.earlysymptomsalzheimers.com/benefits-early-detection
The time it takes to make a diagnosis associated with memory loss can vary. If scans and other investigations are required, these might take 4-12 weeks, depending on waiting lists.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neil_Hardman
No comments:
Post a Comment