Alzheimer's Disease

I expressed concern to my doctor about memory problems. He suggested I get a cognitive psychological evaluation. (Maybe just a plain cognitive test.) Ask your doctor.

Hope it's not Alzheimer's.

Did you take the cognitive psychological evaluation? How did you find the provider?

Yes, I had the test. I found the provider through a recommendation from my doctor. I go to a public hospital, so one department makes referrals to others. Easy for me. I don't know how easy it is going from one private practice to another.

Your primary care physician would be the place to start. He/she will establish a baseline with a few memory tests that, over time, will help measure the memory loss. The doctor should also do a series of tests to rule out other causes.

This is a good place to begin learning more about what's going on and how to begin adjusting to it:

http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_1973.asp

Here's their specific page about obtaining the diagnosis:

http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_diagnosis.asp

Gollum, if you are asking for yourself, be careful. In at least the state of California, when a doctor finds a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease, he's required to report that finding to the state. You can then be required to periodically prove you are still entitled to a driver license.

An early diagnosis might make it possible to do some advance planning, but otherwise, there isn't much gained from knowing about a progressive and irreversible condition. Anyhow, that is the conclusion of a significant number of people who have actually been in that situation.

When I suggested to our gen pract that I might have incipient Alz's he had his staff give me a little test of 26 qs of which I got 22 right whereupon they declared me okay

Actually however I should have got 25 correct; the only one I should have missed was, where his office is situated because I wasn't aware I lived in the same "city"

We have big "cities" out here in the Mojave desert

On at least one q I cheated: "Where do you live?" I imagined my home surrounded by distant mountains, then our big courtyard out front, now the vegetation surrounding it such as rabbit brush, Arizona Cypress, coyote brush; and finally, a single, solitary stunted apple tree

"Apple Valley," I responded

That could count as a trick question. In Albuquerque, there is at least one little town completely surrounded by the bigger city.

Yes, no, Rog, I'm sure the staff means wellI don't even know whether Apple Valley is a district of some kind or a city, like Hesperia or Victorville

I don't think we have many apple trees however; which require just a whole lot of water. Out here they you to tear out your grass and replace it with desert vege

I had cognitive neurological tests. It's possible that I was tested very extensively because I'd had brain surgery and they were looking for more than one possible reason for the memory problems. But I was told that the test would determine whether I had Alzheimer's.

Other posters suggest that there are simpler tests. I guess the best thing to do is check with your doctor.

Yes, my mother was sent to a gerontologist to sort this out.

The tests given were fairly simple though.

There are some online memory tests you can try.

http://www.baycrest.org/MemoryandAging/Session_1/default_23.asp

http://www.nymemory.org/memory_quiz.html

This site has some fun games to help measure "brain age".

http://www.freebrainagegames.com/games/memory_recall.php