How is Alzheimer diagnosed?

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How is alzheimer diagnosed?

Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed through a combination of methods, including a thorough medical evaluation, cognitive and neuropsychological tests, brain imaging, and the process of elimination of other possible causes.

1. Medical evaluation: A doctor will perform a physical examination and take a detailed medical history to rule out other possible causes of memory loss or cognitive decline, such as thyroid problems, vitamin deficiencies, or brain tumors.

2. Cognitive and neuropsychological tests: These tests assess memory, language, problem-solving, and other cognitive functions to determine the extent of cognitive impairment and to differentiate between normal age-related memory loss and dementia.

3. Brain imaging: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans can help identify structural changes in the brain that may indicate Alzheimer's disease.

Positron emission tomography (PET) scans can also be used to measure the levels of certain proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease.

4. Blood tests: Recent research has shown that certain blood tests can help diagnose Alzheimer's disease by measuring the levels of specific proteins or biomarkers associated with the disease.

5. Process of elimination: Since there is no single definitive test for Alzheimer's disease, diagnosis often involves ruling out other possible causes of dementia-like symptoms.

It is important to note that a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can only be made after death through an examination of brain tissue.

However, current diagnostic methods can provide a high level of certainty for a clinical diagnosis while the person is still alive.

Early diagnosis is important for starting treatment and planning for the future.

References

PubMed/Medline https://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/download/pubmed_medline.html

RefinedWeb https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.01116

Liu SS, Zhu SQ: [Correlation between Alzheimer disease and cataract]. Zhonghua Yan Ke Za Zhi. 2017, 53 (4): 314-316.

Gauthier S: Practical guidelines for the antemortem diagnosis of senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 1985, 9 (5-6): 491-5.

Rubin R: New Test to Help Diagnose Alzheimer Disease. JAMA. 2022, 327 (23): 2281.

[Blood Based Biomarker for Optimization of Early and Differential Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Dementia]. Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr. 2022, 90 (7-08): 326-335.

Kapp MB: Physicians' legal duties regarding the use of genetic tests to predict and diagnose Alzheimer disease. J Leg Med. 2000, 21 (4): 445-75.

Britschgi M, Wyss-Coray T: Blood protein signature for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol. 2009, 66 (2): 161-5.

Volicer L, Berman SA, Cipolloni PB, Mandell A: Persistent vegetative state in Alzheimer disease. Does it exist? Arch Neurol. 1997, 54 (11): 1382-4.

Imabayashi E, Saitoh Y, Tsukamoto T, Sakata M, Takano H: Combination of Astrogliosis and Phosphorylated Tau for the Preclinical Diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease Using 3-Dimensional Stereotactic Surface Projection Images With 18 F-THK5351. Clin Nucl Med. 2022, 47 (12): 1066-1068.

Martínez A, Lahiri DK, Giacobini E, Greig NH: Advances in Alzheimer therapy: understanding pharmacological approaches to the disease. Curr Alzheimer Res. 2009, 6 (2): 83-5.

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We start with 35 million biomedical publications of PubMed/Medline. Also, webpages of RefinedWeb.

See "References" also "Disclaimer".