Dementia is a very difficult illness to figure out. Even a highly trained clinical scientist can have trouble diagnosing the disease, and the process usually takes four to five hours once tests begin before a decision can be made. This is the standard that the medical industry has accepted as the most precise way to diagnose dementia, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best way. A newer and much faster way to screen for dementia is being developed now, and the hope is that it will make an accurate diagnosis in a much more timely manner. Rather than having a doctor spending five hours, it is hoped that the new method will be able to be successfully completed by a layperson in five minutes. It is also designed to try and estimate what stage the dementia is in.
One immediate benefit of this type of testing is that it will significantly lower medical costs. Paying a doctor for testing for five hours is going to be much more expensive than paying someone with less training for five minutes. Once this catches up to insurance companies and namely Medicare and Medicaid, there should be lower governmental costs involved, too. All around, spending less is a good thing for everyone. The speed also has the added benefit of not scaring people away from getting tested immediately, too, which is hopefully going to help with earlier diagnoses for dementia.
A new test is being developed for dementia screening.
The only way that this would be worthwhile would be to ensure that it is accurate. Early indications say that it is. The test was developed by Dr. James Galvin, one of the nation’s leading neuroscientists, and has a lot of research behind it. It is supposed to be just as accurate as the older tests, but in a tiny fraction of the time. It is simple at just 10 questions, and can be answered by a caregiver or family member. Test scores help to quantify the degree to which dementia may or may not exist and range from a scale of 0 to 30. The higher the number, the more severe the dementia is considered. It’s designed to pick up mild cognitive impairment and all types of dementia.
Many kinds of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, are incurable at this time and have a severe effect upon the lives of those impacted. Many dementia patients find themselves in nursing homes, even if this is not a necessary type of care. In many cases, only in-home care is necessary. This saves on costs again, but it also helps patients stay in a familiar and comfortable setting. Studies keep indicating that this helps slow the spread of Alzheimer’s. Having a loved one with dementia is not easy, and finding the appropriate type of care for them is a must. It’s not something you want to do alone, either. It can be stressful, and if you are not correctly trained, it can also be dangerous. Having a professional caregiver to help out your loved one, you, and your family members is usually the best course to take.
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