|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
New Dementia Screening Tool Detects Early Problems
Missed by Popular Test
Test helps identify mild neurocognitive disorder on the initial visit
November 1, 2006 - A screening tool for dementia
developed by Saint Louis University geriatricians appears to work better
in identifying mild cognitive problems in the elderly than the commonly
used Mini Mental Status Examination, according to a new study.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Senior Citizen's Mental Decline May Go Undetected
When Hospitalized for Acute Illness
Ability to make
decisions about treatment may be impacted
 October
29, 2006 - Many patients over the age of 65 who are hospitalized with an
acute illness experience a subtle change in their cognitive ability that
often goes undiagnosed, untreated and underreported. As a result, a
patient's ability to make decisions about his or her medical treatment
may be negatively impacted.
Read
more...
Senior Citizens Worried About Early Dementia May
Just Be Anemic
Study among elderly women finds even mild anemia
has impact
 September 13, 2006 – Senior citizens finding it
difficult to think clearly may jump to the conclusion they are
experiencing the early signs of dementia. That may not be the case, say
researchers, it may just be lack of red blood cells, which is causing anemia.
Read more...
Earliest Detection of Alzheimer's May Be Found in
the Eye
Optical test detects early molecular signs of the
disease before AD pathology is present in the brain
October 3, 2006 –
Read
more...
Earlier Detection of Alzheimer's Disease Made
Possible by New Discovery
Faster detection can lead to beneficial early
treatment
September 26, 2006 –
Read more...
Read more on
Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health |
|
Physicians routinely administer the Mini Mental
Status Examination (MMSE) to patients who they believe may have
Alzheimer's disease. Both the MMSE and SLU's screening tool –- the Saint
Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) –- indicate to
doctors when they should pursue further testing in diagnosing dementia.
"This early detection of mild neurocognitive
disorder by the SLUMS offers the opportunity for the clinicians to begin
early treatment as it becomes available," says Syed Tariq, M.D., lead
author and associate professor of geriatric medicine at Saint Louis
University.
John Morley, M.D., director of the division of
geriatric medicine at Saint Louis University, created the SLUMS to
screen more educated patients and to detect early cognitive problems.
"There are potential treatments available and they
slow down the progression of the disease," says Morley, who is a
coinvestigator. "The earlier you treat, the better people seem to do.
But families go through denial and sometimes miss diagnosing dementia
until its symptoms are no longer mild."
The researchers found the new screening tool
developed by SLU detects early cognitive problems missed by the MMSE.
"The Mini Mental Status Examination has
limitations, especially with regard to its use in more educated patients
and as a screen for mild neurocognitive disorder," Tariq says.
It takes a clinician about seven minutes to
administer the SLUMS, which supplements the Mini Mental Status
Examination by asking patients to perform tasks such as doing simple
math computations, naming animals, recalling facts and drawing the hands
on a clock.
Both screening tools work at detecting dementia,
the research found.
"SLUMS has the advantage in that it can help the
clinician identify patients with mild neurocognitive disorder on the
initial visit compared to MMSE, which requires a follow up screening,"
Tariq says.
Saint Louis University researchers used both
screening tools to test 705 men who were at least 60 and treated at the
Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center, Veterans Administration
Hospitals in St. Louis in 2003. They found that while both tools
detected dementia, only the SLUMS recognized a group of patients as
having mild cognitive problems.
The SLUMS, which is free and currently used at many
Veterans Administration hospitals, is available at the link below.
http://medschool.slu.edu/agingsuccessfully/pdfsurveys/slumsexam_05.pdf
The researchers cautioned that neither the SLUMS
nor the MMSE screening tools substitute for clinical assessment and
neuropsychological testing to diagnose cognitive problems and dementia.
Editor's Notes:
The study appeared in the November issue of the
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Established in 1836, Saint Louis University
School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first M.D. degree
west of the Mississippi River. Saint Louis University School of Medicine
is a pioneer in geriatric medicine, organ transplantation, chronic
disease prevention, cardiovascular disease, neurosciences and vaccine
research, among others. The School of Medicine trains physicians and
biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health
services on a local, national and international level.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
