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CHICAGO – Too few people with signs of wasting or dementia are the subject of a routine medical check-up or are aware of the presence of a problem, according to a panel of 39; Alzheimer's disease experts who proposed new directions Sunday. Although mental decline may be an uncomfortable topic for patients and their physicians, the expert group says that family physicians should make a careful assessment when symptoms occur and share the same thing.
Patients and their family members should ask for an assessment if they are concerned that the symptoms are not normal aging – the difference between misplacing keys or putting them in the freezer or confusing them
"By the time you forget what the keys are for, you're too far away to participate in your own care – we've probably lost a decade" that could have been spent on planning, said Dr. Alireza Atri, a neurologist at the University of Ottawa. Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Arizona.
It's not just memory that can suffer when mental decline begins, "Atri said.
"It's actually the judgment of people who faint, their character and personality disappear," he says sometimes
THE NEED
About 50 Million People Around the World suffer from dementia Alzheimer's disease is the most common form. In the United States, nearly 6 million suffer from Alzheimer's and nearly 12 million have mild cognitive impairment, common precursors.
In 2015, the Alzheimer Research Association using Medicare Records suggested that only half of people treated for Alzheimer's disease "Doctors will too often hear symptoms or memory complaints from the share the patients or their spouse and say, "You know, you seem to me well today. "So come back in six months," said James Hendrix, a scientist with the Alzheimer's Association who worked with the panel, meanwhile the patient may be hospitalized for problems such as forgetting to take a diabetes medicine because his mental disability was not caught.
"We hear stories from people all the time to get an accurate diagnosis. Silverberg, a psychologist who runs Alzheimer's programs at the National Institute on Aging, who had no role in the guidelines.
Medicare recently started covering mental assessments as part of the annual wellness visit, but doctors are not required she said that there was no indication on how to do. In some cases, this can be as superficial as asking "how is your memory going?"
The panel was appointed by the Alzheimer's Association and included primary care physicians, aging specialists, nurses and a psychiatrist. The outline was published Sunday at the group's international conference in Chicago; details will be released later this year.
The guidelines do not recommend screening everyone. They describe what health workers should do if people describe disturbing symptoms. This includes: checking for risk factors that may contribute to dementia or other brain diseases, including family history, heart disease and head injuries; pen and pencil memory tests; imaging tests to detect small strokes or brain injuries that could cause memory problems.
DIFFICULT THEME
Dr. Michael Sitorius, president of family medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said the treatment of mental decline adds to the challenge of caring for elderly, often frail patients
. "He's trying to cure people and Alzheimer's disease and dementia are not curable."
He said that he was giving mental tests to his elderly patients during their annual check-ups, but that sometimes patients or their relatives do not want to hear the results. In these cases, Sitorius still addresses related issues, including depression, medication protection, nutrition, and the need to continue driving.
He stated that the new guidelines are a good reminder for family physicians.
A diagnosis should never be dismissed for fear of making the patient depressed, says Atri.
"We strongly encourage full disclosure," including diagnosis, stage and prognosis. ", he said.
PATIENT HISTORY
On the insistence of her daughter, Anne Hunt visited her family doctor in 2011 because of growing oblivion. Hunt, 81, who once ran a cooking school in Chicago, recalls having memory tests involving letters and numbers that his doctor had made him run
"I thought," I'm a vegetable Hunt said, but the test results were inconclusive and there was no diagnosis.
"We did not really contribute," said Bruce Hunt , Anne's husband, five years later, when her behavior clearly worsened herself and forgetting where to put things.
She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease after an imaging test has shown brain changes often seen with the disease.Image tests are sometimes used with mental tests to diagnose the disease or rule out other conditions
IS- HE GOOD TO KNOW?
"There is no pill to make it disappear, so some people think there's no point in getting a diagnosis, "but that's not true, Silverberg said the National Institute of Aging. "
Medications for Alzheimer's disease like Aricept and Namenda can relieve symptoms but do not cure.
Experts say other benefits include a chance to participate in experiments to test treatments, solve financial problems, find caregivers, make homes safer and use memory aids and calendars to promote independent living.
Hunts joined support groups and a group of Singers, hoping that trying new things would help both of them.They were better prepared than some.Already before his diagnosis, they converted an old apartment building in Chicago into two big houses so that they could grow old. with the help of one of their daughters and family.
Anne Hunt said that she wanted to know the truth about her "
" Do not know, that's Is is ask why things are happening to you and you do not understand them, "she said. "I would prefer to know and ask someone to help me understand how best to control my abilities."
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Follow Marilynn Marchione @MMarchioneAP and Lindsey Tanner @ LindseyTanner.
___ [19659039] The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Department of Science Education of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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