HI

Does anyone know if theres a sure way to find out you have alzhiemers /dementia?

Is there an on-line test, or a doctors test to determine if you have the condition?


Any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks:)

HI Sing

According to my research, and MRI can show up the Alzheimers brain shrinkage and TIA's, but to actually find out the TYPE of dementia, needs an autopsy.

There is a MMSE test that can be done, but get it done by a professional trained in the elderly ... there are variations of course, but they all point to the same thing.

I did a simple search and found this:

MINI-MENTAL STATE EXAM (extended version)<> Folstein, Folstein, McHugh, 1975
Extension adapted from Ashford et al., 1992, Internatl. Psychoger. 4:55-74.


PATIENT NAME: _______________________________

Today's date: 2/25/2000


Enter birthdate (mm): Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec (dd): (yyyy):
Sex: []Male [] Female Enter education (years):
Race: []Caucasian []Black []Hispanic []Asian []Other

right / wrong
Orientation Questions: Ask the following questions:
[] [] x1. What is your last name?
[] [] x2. What is your first name?
[] [] x3. What is your birthday?
[] [] x4. What is your birth year?
[] [] x5.* How old are you?
[] [] x6. In what county/city were you born?
[] [] x7. In what state (country if not US) were you born?
[] [] x8. What is your mother's m***** name?
[] [] x9. How far did you go in school (years of education)?
[] [] x10. What is your address (or phone number)? PERSON ___________


[] [] 1.* What is today's date?
[] [] 2. What is the month?
[] [] 3. What is the year?
[] [] 4.* What day of the week is today?
[] [] 5. What season is it? DATE
[] [] 6. What is the name of this clinic (place)?
[] [] 7. What floor are we on?
[] [] 8. What city are we in?
[] [] 9. What county are we in?
[] [] 10. What state are we in? PLACE _____________


PRESIDENTS
[] [] x11.* Who is the President of the US?
[] [] x12.* Who was the President before him?
[] [] x13.* Who was the President before him?
[] [] x14. Who was the first President of the US?
[] [] x15. Name another US President? PRESIDENTS_________________


IMMEDIATE RECALL: Ask the subject if you may test his/her memory. Then say "ball", "flag", "tree" clearly and slowly, about 1 second for each. After you have said all 3 words, ask him/her to repeat them. The first repetition determines the score (0-3), but keep saying them until he/she can repeat all 3, up to 6 tries. If he/she does not eventually learn all 3, recall cannot be meaningfully tested:
[] [] 11. BALL
[] [] 12. FLAG
[] [] 13. TREE Note # trials: IMMEDIATE RECALL: _________________


ATTENTION
A) Ask the subject to begin with 100 and count backwards by 7. Stop after 5 subtractions. Score the correct subtractions.
[] [] 14. "93"
[] [] 15. "86"
[] [] 16. "79"
[] [] 17. "72"
[] [] 18.* "65" SERIAL 7's TOTAL: __________________


B) Ask the subject to spell the word "WORLD" backwards. The score is the number of letters in correct position. For example, "DLROW" is 5, "DLORW" is 3, "LROWD" is 0.
[] [] 19. "D"
[] [] 20. "L"
[] [] 21. "R"
[] [] 22. "O"
[] [] 23. "W" "DLROW" TOTAL: _____ Greater score of A or B: _____

DELAYED VERBAL RECALL: Ask the subject to recall the 3 words you previously asked him/her to remember.
[] [] 24.* BALL?
[] [] 25.* FLAG?
[] [] 26.* TREE? DELAYED VERBAL RECALL:

NAMING: Show the subject a wrist watch and ask him/her what it is. Repeat for pencil.
[] [] 27. WATCH
[] [] 28. PENCIL

REPETITION: Ask subject to repeat: "No ifs, ands, or buts" (accept "no if and or but")
[] [] 29. REPETITION

3-STAGE COMMAND: Give the subject a plain piece of paper and say, "Take the paper in your hand, fold it in half, and put it on the floor."
[] [] 30. TAKES ____________
[] [] 31. FOLDS_____________
[] [] 32. PUTS_______________

READING: Hold up the card reading, "Close your eyes", so the subject can see it clearly. Ask him/her to read it and do what it says. Score correctly only if the subject actually closes his/her eyes.
[] [] 33. CLOSES EYES

WRITING: Give subject a piece of paper and ask him/her to write a sentence. It is to be written spontaneously. It must contain a subject and verb and be sensible. Correct grammar and punctuation are not necessary.
[] [] 34. SENTENCE LANGUAGE:

COPYING: Ask subject to draw intersecting pentagons
[] [] 35. PENTAGONS

To calculate MMSE score automatically, click here:

TOTAL MMSE (serial7s): MMSE (dlrow): MMSE (max): (MAXIMUM score = 30)

TOTAL MMSE WITH EXTENSION: (maximum score = 50) ___________


Print it out if need be and give to your doctor.
Cheers
Sally

Thanks for that


:)

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 can only be done after a person dies. Therefore, doctors can only make a diagnosis of "possible" or "probable" AD while the person is still alive.