Early Identification Of Alzheimer's Disease With PET Scan

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Medical News Today

Westside Medical Associates of Los Angeles and Westside Medical Imaging (WMI) of Beverly Hills announce the benefit of early positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to identify Alzheimer's in its early more treatable phase. According to Dr. Norman Lepor, Professor of Medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Co-director of Imaging at WMI, "the research investigators at the New York University Langone Medical Center have confirmed our long held belief that we can use advanced imaging for early identification of Alzheimer's disease in patients that have not yet developed symptoms." According to Dr. Lisa Moscone of the NYU Langone Medical Center, "treating at this early stage would have the best chance of success." According to Dr. Hooman Madyoon, Co-director of Imaging at WMI, "nearly 5 million Americans suffer from the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's with the number of Americans expected to be afflicted increasing to epidemic levels as the population ages."

According to Dr. Elliot Kolin, lead radiologist at WMI, "the NYU research team used PET with a fluorescent imaging agent called Pittsburgh Compound B that lights up clumps of a protein called beta amyloid that is a characteristic finding of Alzheimer's disease." According to Dr. Moscone not all patients with beta amyloid plaques in their brain develop Alzheimer's, the appearance of these plaques do increase the risk.

Source: Westside Medical Imaging

Report: Minorities more likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease (part 2)

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USA Today
What's not a sign of dementia

Forgetting names and appointments now and then Forgetting recently learned material

Sometimes forgetting why you came into a room or what you planned to say Problems staying organized day to day, losing track of steps in making a call or playing a game

Sometimes grasping for the right word Forgetting simple words more often

Misplacing keys and wallets Putting things in unusual places, like a watch in the sugar bowl

Trouble balancing a checkbook at times Paying bills twice or not at all

By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY

Report: Minorities more likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting Corrier-journal.comactivities

USA Today

By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY

As deaths from heart disease and many types of cancers have dipped, living longer is putting more people at risk for Alzheimer's disease, the brain-wasting condition that a new report shows African-Americans and Hispanics are particularly vulnerable to as they grow older.
According to the Alzheimer's Association's report released today, "2010 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures," 5.3 million people are living with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. African Americans are almost twice as likely as whites to have Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, and Hispanics are about one and a half times more likely to be stricken with it.


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Maria Carrillo, the Alzheimer's Association's senior director of medical and scientific relations, says higher rates of diabetes and heart disease in the African-American and Hispanic communities probably are linked to increased rates of dementia.

Carrillo, who has Hispanic roots and whose mother-in-law has Alzheimer's, says a lack of awareness of community health resources deters disease education and prevention measures, and cultural attitudes, including respect for the elderly (not questioning the authority of a senior even if he or she exhibits symptoms of dementia) can be roadblocks to early diagnosis and treatment.

Many people do not realize they have the power early on to reduce their risk of developing dementia, says Alzheimer's expert Steven DeKosky, senior vice president and dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

"Exercise, watch your lipids (cholesterol) and blood pressure and abdominal girth," DeKosky says. "Exercise your brain, stay active, challenge yourself with puzzles like sudoku. Don't do just passive sorts of things."

Many are also not aware that medications can help with the symptoms, says Carrillo, who points out that for every person with Alzheimer's, one or more caretakers are juggling that patient's increasing health needs as the disease progresses. (Alzheimer's patients live an average of four to six years and as many as 20.) She worries about caretakers' health and stress levels, too.

DeKosky notes that medical centers struggle to find early-Alzheimer's patients to participate in drug studies, and that research has slowed.

According to the new report, which examined data from 2000 to 2006, deaths from Alzheimer's increased by 46% compared with heart disease deaths, which dropped by 11%; breast cancer deaths, which decreased by nearly 3%; and prostate cancer deaths, which dropped by nearly 9%.

DeKosky says that even though families may suspect a loved one has dementia, they may be less likely to visit the doctor because they know there's no cure. "We will be greatly helped when there are more powerful medications, when we can make life better for abuela," he says.

Early Alzheimer's can manifest itself in different ways, says Darby Morhardt of Northwestern University's Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago. Though everyone occasionally blanks, some lapses are more cause for concern.

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