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How is AD diagnosed?
What is the outlook for
someone
diagnosed with AD?
Why is early diagnosis
important?
How is AD Diagnosed?
Today, the only definite way to diagnose AD is to find
out whether there are plaques and tangles in brain
tissue. To look at brain tissue, doctors must wait until
they do an autopsy, which is an examination of the body
done after a person dies. Therefore, doctors must make a
diagnosis of "possible" or
"probable" AD.
At
specialized centers, doctors can diagnose AD correctly
up to 90 percent of the time. Doctors use several tools
to diagnose "probable" AD:
- A complete medical history
includes information about the person's general
health, past medical problems, and any difficulties
the person has carrying out daily activities.
- Medical tests
- such as tests of blood, urine, or spinal fluid -
help the doctor find other possible diseases causing
the symptoms.
- Neuropsychological tests
measure memory, problem solving, attention,
counting, and language.
- Brain
scans
allow the doctor to look at a picture of the brain
to see if anything does not look normal.
Information
from the medical history and test results help the
doctor rule out other possible causes of the person's
symptoms. For example, thyroid problems, drug reactions,
depression, brain tumors, and blood vessel disease in
the brain can cause AD-like symptoms. Some of these
other conditions can be treated successfully.
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What
is the outlook for someone diagnosed with AD?
The course the disease takes and how fast changes occur
vary from person to person. On average, AD patients live
from 8 to 10 years after they are diagnosed, though the
disease can last for as many as 20 years.
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Why
is early diagnosis important?
An early, accurate diagnosis of AD helps patients and
their families plan for the future. It gives them time
to discuss care options while the patient can still take
part in making decisions. Early diagnosis also offers
the best chance to treat the symptoms of the disease.
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Information
courtesy of Alzheimer's Disease Education & Referral
Center
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