DIAGNOSTIC TESTS AND PROCEDURES
Factors beyond genetics may play a strong role in the development and course of Alzheimer’s such as vascular condition, diabetes and obesity, so studying biomarkers of disease in brain image, cerebrospinal fluid and blood are required to detect the early stages of disease for people who are at higher risk (NIA, 2021).
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Doctors use several tools to help determine whether a person who is having memory problems has Alzheimer’s disease:
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Ask the person or his/her family about the ability to carry out daily activities, use of prescription and over-the-counter medications, diet and changes in behavior and personality.
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Administer psychiatric evaluation to determine if depression or another mental health condition is causing or contributing to that person’s symptoms.
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Conduct tests for memory, problem-solving, attention, counting and language.
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Order standard blood and urine tests to identify other causes of the problem.
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Perform brain scans such as Computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or positron emission tomography (PET) to support diagnosis or rule out other possible causes of symptoms.
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Neurologists can look for regional patterns of atrophy in MRI images and exclude Alzheimer’s as a cause of dementia if there is no hippocampal atrophy nor posterior-predominant cortical atrophy. Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET scans can be used to rule in Alzheimer’s if there is temporal-parietal hypoperfusion or hypometabolism. In the meantime, the prognostic value of detecting brain amyloid in an asymptomatic elder to assess preclinical disease and risk of future cognitive decline remains a topic of vigorous investigation (Loscalzo et al, 2022).
Early diagnosis of other conditions such as sleep disturbance, an infection, medications side effects and other types of dementia can help to reverse those conditions and treat them; however, if the diagnosis is Alzheimer’s then daily functions can be preserved for a while to help families make a plan for the future. They can take care of living arrangements, potential safety issues and financial-legal matters. Early diagnosis also provides opportunities to participate in clinical trials or other research studies that are testing possible new treatments for Alzheimer’s (NIA, 2021).
