Alzheimer's Disease: A Diagnostic Analysis

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Brain autopsy is the only way to detect Alzheimer’s Disease. Nevertheless, other tests like mental, behavioral, and physical examinations make it possible for physicians-to make an exact diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease-in 90% of the cases. The measure for finding mental disorders is written in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM III), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association. In this handbook, Alzheimer’s Disease is in the category of primary deteriorating dementia. The diagnostic principle includes dementia, insidious onset with advanced worsening, and the marginalization of all other types of dementia. The diagnosis of dementia includes the loss of academic abilities which affect the social or …show more content…
Physical examination, like blood tests and urinalysis are proceeded (done, to rule out other possible causes of dementia, such as imbalance of hormones, vitamin deficiency, and infections of the urine tract. To rule out cerebrovascular accidents, tumors, traumatic brain damage, and other infections the brain is examined. The scans made are also supportive for the identification of characteristic knots and plaques seen in Alzheimer’s Disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), offer information about the size and shape of the brain. Functional imaging makes it possible for physician to figure out how brain cell function (positron emission tomography (PET) scan can also be used). Neuropsychological inspections may be used to classify cognitive symptoms. The most frequently managed test is the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE). The physician ask the patients a series of questions, in which the ability to recall and name a list of items, complete simple mathematics, and follow directions are tested. The patient can score 30 points; when the patient scores 12 or lower dementia is the most common diagnosis. Alzheimer’s Disease patients score less than 4 …show more content…
A patient is injected with a radiotracer, made up of a radioactive medication bound to a naturally occurring chemical. For the study of Alzheimer’s Disease the chemical used is glucose. The radiotracer journeys to the organs that use that specific molecule for energy. When the compound is metabolized, so called positrons are produced. The PET scan measures the energy of these positrons, converting input into an image. By showing how effectively the radiotracer was broken down, the PET shows body function. The quantity of positron energy released, generates a variety of colors and concentrations, which echoes the range of brain activity. A PET scan has the ability to identify irregularities in metabolism, blood flood, and cell communication activities in the brain. A report published in the 1996 Journal of Clinical Psychiatry explained the technique of using a PET scan to identify the changes in glucose metabolism in the brain of an Alzheimer’s Disease patient. The least concentrated regions of glucose were the parietal, temporal, and posterior cortices. The rate further diminished in patients who had a superior stage of Alzheimer’s Disease and affected more regions in the brain. The researchers discovered that a PET scan could be used to identify the changes in glucose metabolism long before the medical demonstration of symptoms. Additionally, a PET image could also be
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