Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most difficult conditions to deal with. When a person develops Alzheimer’s disease they are looking at a very difficult road to travel over any period of time. Alzheimer’s is not the type of complex condition that will kill you, but it does slowly take everything from memory to certain basic functions away. Alzheimer’s disease will not only affect the patient but also the patients loved ones. It takes a lot of love, understanding, and care to deal with an Alzheimer’s patient, and often times that’s not enough.
One key to dealing with Alzheimer’s disease is being able to diagnose it early. Diagnostic imaging plays a very important part given the fact that it helps reveal the patient’s status as opposed to guess work from possible symptoms. Exams such as the MRI and the PET Scan help in early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. A brief article about a study conducted on imaging was published on www.snm.org and it stated that “The findings suggest PiB-PET imaging for amyloid deposits could be used to screen for cognitive impairment,” meaning imaging is a great tool.
While there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, perhaps we may see a future stride in the march to try and reverse the effects of the disease or cure it altogether. There is an interesting article published on medscape.com that states that a lot of patients would rather remain in the dark about their Alzheimer’s as opposed to know about their ailment.
It’s interesting that patients seem to want to remain in the dark; in part it’s probably due to the fact that there’s little to actually slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Maybe patients fear that knowing about their diagnosis early may be a hindrance to their lives given the levels of stress and fear that it may cause. In a survey conducted by investigators at the Medical University of Lodz, Poland, it was determined that “Interestingly, in all the analyzed groups, subjects who are willing to have tests…score considerably lower on ADKS, so the less they know about Alzheimer’s, the more enthusiastic about testing they are,” so it’s fair to say that greater knowledge means increased fears.
It doesn’t really matter what the means of testing for Alzheimer’s are, there is a legitimate fear given the end result for someone that may be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. As diagnostic imaging evolves, with faster and better methods, chances are that there will be better answers on the treatment methods. Only the future can tell what’s in store for one of the great mysteries of medicine.
If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging equipment or procedures please feel free to give us a call. We look forward to taking your call and answering any questions that you may have.
Bobby Serros
President/CEO
407.438.7847
bobbys@amberusa.com
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