What is MCI?
The first step in diagnosis for most people is to take an early test. This could be an at-home test like the ALZselftest, or a paper and pencil test in your physician’s office, perhaps the MMSE. On either test the maximum possible score is 30. An individual could score in the 28 – 30 range and still be considered to have normal levels of cognition. In the 26 – 28 range we would typically expect to see a diagnosis of MCI. One the score drops below 26 you see individuals with dementia and would not receive a diagnosis of MCI.

An individual with MCI typically complains of difficulties with memory. Mary came to see me last week. She complained that she was not able to follow recipes as well as she has in the past, and said that she has started misplacing kitchen utensils. Her husband, Jim, told me that Mary has reasonably good computer skills but recently seems confused and unable to perform some basic functions. These reports are very common for someone with MCI. Another issue people present with is inability to balance a checkbook. It is often helpful if a spouse recognizes the mild memory difficulty, as this provides independent verification there is a memory problem.

One critical issue with understanding MCI is that one’s professional or social activities are NOT impaired to the point of problems. The deficit tends to be so mild that it doesn’t disturb practical functioning.

I have MCI. Will I get Alzheimer’s disease?
Not necessarily. While many consider MCI to be a pre-cursor to dementia, it’s important to look at it by the numbers. One year after an MCI diagnosis, 40% of people are unchanged, or do not have worsening symptoms, 20% actually improve. Only 8 – 9% of those convert to AD. One reason for this is MCI can be caused by a number of things: thyroid dysfunction, B12 deficiency or depression.

We are just beginning to understand some new ways to test and measure an individual with MCI, in order to determine who will convert to AD later. This is groundbreaking research in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and we will talk more about it in upcoming posts.

For now, please write us if you have questions about AD or dementia which Dr. Dougherty can answer. For an early warning screen you can take in the privacy of your own home, please visit ALZselftest online.

Please see excerpts from the study below. You can take the first step towards screening your brain in the privacy of your own home with new medical screening like the ALZselftest. This is the only clinically-proven, early warning screen for Alzheimer’s available directly to the public. Which ever route is chosen please know that early and regular screening is our best defense against Alzheimer’s!

Patients diagnosed with dementia through screening ran up 13 percent less in health costs in the first year of treatment than before, according to a study suggesting wider detection could reduce U.S. medical expenses.

The one-year cost for 345 patients who were screened, found to have dementia and treated at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinics with specially trained nurses fell to $11,636 each on average, from $13,378 in the 12 months before diagnosis, said J. Riley McCarten, the lead researcher.

Patients with Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia and the seventh-leading cause of death in the U.S., are becoming more numerous and cost three times as much to treat as elderly patients without the disease.

For patients whose dementia is properly diagnosed, health care may become more efficient, McCarten said in the interview. That’s because they can receive chronic care such as phone checkups with nurses, he said. Before diagnosis, patients may be “lurching from crisis to crisis,” undergoing tests and treatment for many possible maladies, after coming to the hospital repeatedly with vague complaints, he said.

An estimated 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. That figure will grow as the population aged 65 and older more than doubles to 89 million in 2050 because of longer life expectancy and the aging of baby boomers, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, an advocacy group based in Chicago.

“If you can detect and diagnose the disease earlier, then one can implement care sooner, so that the hope would be that the individual would have a slower progression of the disease and therefore extend the time before they would need institutionalized care,” said Molly V. Wagster, chief of the behavioral and systems neuroscience branch at the National Institute on Aging, in Bethesda, Maryland

“We would like to see screening become a vital sign, just like taking your weight or blood pressure,” McCarten said. “Right now the health-care system cares about every other organ system, but almost completely ignores the brain.”

I took the self test today, and the results were excellent in all areas. With a family history of Alzheimer’s, having access to a quick, easy, affordable tool to catch problems early, gives me great peace of mind. Now I’ll chalk up my memory problems to overwork, rather than to early ALZ.

We offer the ALZselftest as a way to help people discover early warning signs of Alzheimer’s and get diagnosed early, when treatment options are most effective. But on the other side are the millions of baby boomers who have begun to worry that their memory lapses are something far more serious than mere absent-mindedness or paying insufficient attention. For these folks, like our commenter above, the ALZselftest offers a quick, highly accurate way to find “peace of mind”. The less time you spend fretting about the occasional lost set of keys, the more clear your mind will be, and the better you’ll feel each day.

Do not fear the outcome! Knowledge is power, and for the first time you are empowered with the tools to screen your mind and learn crucial information about your cognitive function. Besides, think how relieved you will be when you find out that you forget the same things the rest of us do, and are suffering no serious deficits within any of your cognitive domains! Don’t delay, screen your brain today.

The Brain and Spine Institute in collaboration with the Cole Neuroscience Center will again host the 4th Annual Alzheimer’s Awareness Garden April 12-16. The Alzheimer’s Awareness Garden honors families and caregivers impacted by Alzheimer’s. This year, the garden will be located outdoors in the Healing Garden.

April 5 to 9, the week prior to opening the garden, special activities are planned in the main lobby from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. daily including the following.

• Computerized memory testing
• Tips for coping with caregiver stress
• “Food for Thought”
• Diabetes, stroke and the Alzheimer’s connection
• Brain games and teasers

“Some people with severe memory problems have a difficult time remembering how to get home. They get lost in the car,” Dr. Dougherty says. “But also other things happen in Alzheimer’s disease. That is, one’s attention can be affected. You might see a dog or a child run across the street and may not be able to react as quickly.”

Dr. Dougherty hopes to start testing his patients in the simulator within the next couple of months.

Lenoir City is hosting the Forget Me Not 5K for Alzheimer’s on Saturday April 17. All proceeds will go toward Dr. Dougherty’s research at UT.

The Alzheimer’s Association is holding a Memory Walk in Knoxville the same day.

On PubMed.gov

From Science Daily

New Article on Computerized Self Test from Medscape

From The Behavioral Medicine Report

From WATE.com

KNOXVILLE (WATE) – A new online test developed in Knoxville may help with earlier diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease.

An estimated 5 million people have Alzheimer’s disease and the latest studies show up to 60 percent go undiagnosed until it’s too late to do much about it.

It’s a progressive and fatal disease of the brain that destroys brain cells, causing memory loss and problems with thinking and behavior.

The simple, interactive test is posted on the Web sitealzselftest.com. It only takes 10 minutes and costs just under $20.

Your answers reveal important information about your mental functions.

The test is a sort of fitness test for the brain. It starts with questions like what year is it? What month? What week?

Then the questions progress to dig deeper into what’s going on in your brain.

At UT Medical Center’s Cole Neuroscience Center, researcher Rex Cannon, with UT Knoxville, and Dr. John Dougherty with the, UT Graduate School of Medicine, developed the test to get more people diagnosed in time to make a difference in their quality of life.

“It’s so important, if not critical, for people to come early for evaluation. That’s why we’ve been so interested in developing this test that people can access online. Or if they’re not computer literate a loved one, family member, can help them with the computer interface,” Dr. Dougherty says.

“Nobody is really afraid of the test and I think that’s important they don’t feel alienated, kind of comfortable taking it. It speaks to the patient with verbal instructions so that’s important,” Cannon says.

After you take the test, if you show early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, you can take the results to your doctor.