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I didn't know there was a way to find out the type of Alzheimer's prior to an autopsy. What has been developed to changed this for a more specific diagnosis?
Answer Summary
Members discussed how doctors now diagnose specific types of dementia before death using tools like MRIs, CT scans, and neuropsychological... Read more
My dad's diagnosis was made very specific through an MRI.
My mother had an MRI done by her neurologist and we all looked at the pictures and so that it was fronto-lobal dementia, behavior part of the brain....
schedule an appointment with a neurologist and they an give your loved one or the person you are caring for to see if and what stage they are in..
I would say that knowing the type of dementia, acute vs. chronic, is really injury vs. disease. If the dementia is the result of an injury, then some treatments (even behavioral) can be very specific and, without further incident, probably improve. If the dementia is the result of disease, then knowing can help with medication, but MOST chronic diseases, of which most are Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, are slowed by medication but not cured.
Hi @A myALZteam Member, a diagnosis is made by a doctor. An MRI is one way, others include Testing by a Clinical Nueropsychologist. A diagnosis is extremely important because many other conditions can mimic Alzheimers eg a hyperactive parathyroid can cause temporary memory loss due to high calcium levels in the blood. So the place to start is the doctor. There are many types of Dementia of which Alzheimers is one. Vascular dementia is another, Medication will more likely depend on the way the person is affected by the disease rather than the stage they are at.
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