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When is it Not
Alzheimer’s?
November is Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common cause of
age-associated dementia, affecting approximately 4.5 million
Americans. But to date there is no single, definitive test
to diagnose it in a person who is experiencing memory loss.
For this reason, doctors rely on a process of elimination to
determine whether the cause of forgetfulness is Alzheimer’s
Disease or one of several other conditions that can mimic
its symptoms. Some of these conditions are serious, while
others are easily reversible. Alzheimer’s Disease Research,
a program of the nonprofit American Health Assistance
Foundation reports that while Alzheimer’s Disease is
tragically common, it accounts for only 50-80% of all cases
of elderly dememtia. Some other possible causes include the
following:
Memory loss can be caused by other neurological diseases
like Pick’s Disease. This relatively rare but devastating
illness usually has its onset between the ages of 40 and 60
and occurs more often in women that in men. It causes severe
atrophy in the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes, which are
integral to intellectual function and is always fatal. This
little-understood disease causes symptoms that almost
identical to those of Alzheimer’s Disease, but it runs its
course much faster.
Another serious neurological condition that can mimic
Alzheimer’s Disease id Creutzfldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which
causes rapidly progressing dementia along with
muscle-jerking and difficulty walking. CJD is considered by
some experts to be the human version of Mad Cow Disease and
is also fatal. But unlike some other neurological diseases
like Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons disease CJD can occur in
people of all ages.
One of the more common causes of dementia is the
accumulation of brain damage from multiple small strokes, or
mini-strokes. Called multi-infarct dementia, this condition
can impair memory and set off a downward spiral of brain
degeneration that is just as devastating as Alzheimer’s
Disease. The good news is that people can lower their risk
of stroke by managing their blood pressure and blood
cholesterol levels. And the brain damage brought on by
stroke can be limited by intervention with drugs – either
the quick use of tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) drug
during a major stroke, or through the regular use of blood
thinners and blood pressure medication to prevent small
strokes.
Other common causes of Alzheimer’s-like symptoms can be
easily reversed once they’ve been identified. Depression,
for example, can cause pronounced memory impairments in an
older person, but it can be successfully treated.
Antidepressant drugs, talk therapy, or a combination of both
can usually ameliorate the symptoms of depression.
Over-medication or negative drug interactions can cause
dementia. This is an all-too-common occurrence in elderly
patients, many of whom have several health conditions and
see more than one doctor. Sometimes elderly people have
trouble keeping up with all the medication they are taking.
To avoid dangerous drug interactions, it is always best to
take a written list of all your medications to each
physician, to make sure that each doctor is aware of all the
medications you are taking. Fortunately, the mental
confusion and memory loss caused by drug interactions can be
reversed once the proper adjustments are made in the
patients medication.
Another cause of impaired mental function in an elderly
person can by thyroid disease. Hypothyroidism, or the
condition in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough
hormone, causes drowsiness, confusion and memory impairment.
Fortunately, this situation can be corrected by taking a
prescription that replaces the thyroid hormone.
A vitamin deficiency can also cause temporary memory loss.
The sense of taste often diminishes with age, and along with
it can go the appetite. Many older people simply don’t feel
the need to eat much, and as a result, they fail to get
enough vitamins. A vitamin B12 deficiency, for example,
causes Alzheimer’s-like symptoms that will vanish once the
person’s nutritional status improves. Those caring for an
elderly loved one, as well as older people themselves, need
to know that even if they don’t feel the need to eat as much
as they did when they were younger, they still need to make
sure they get the proper nutrition.
If these and a few other causes of dementia are ruled out by
a physician, and if the memory loss is clearly progressive
over a matter of months or years, then the diagnosis of
“probable Alzheimer’s” is made. This might sound as though
the physician isn’t sure about the diagnosis, but doctors
are right about 95% of the time when assessing an older
person for Alzheimer’s disease.
To learn more about how to diagnose or cope with Alzheimer’s
disease in yourself or a loved on, contact Alzheimer’s
Disease Research, a program of the American Health
Assistance Foundation. You can write to them at 22512
Gateway Center Drive, Clarksburg, MD 20871, call
1-800-437-2423 or visit their website at
www.ahaf.org.
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