Alzheimer's Dementia "Case Study"

Your Assessment For Alzheimer's Dementia....

.....will generally begin with your Primary Care Provider (PCP) unless you are already being counselled by a mental health professional who has an MD behind his or her name.

Following a simple "Acuity Assessment" more formally known as "MoCA" for "Montreal Cognitive Assessment" your physician may or may not refer you further to a neurologist. It depends on how you do on the MoCA which takes about 10 minutes and consists of some words to remember, drawing a certain time on the face of a clock, and identifying some animals or objects. You may also be asked to count backward from 100 by groupings of three.

If all this seems a mite familiar, it should. Former President Trump underwent the same test while he was in office.

To keep myself occupied while waiting on an appointment with any of my docs, I do prime numbers in my head. 

Prime numbers are whole numbers greater than 1 that have only 2 factors - 1 and the number itself, examples being 2,3,5,7. What's next?

11 follows 7 in the sequence. Try it yourself sometime.

When I do the "Prime Numbers Exercise" I write down the highest number I can reach, then save it in my wallet for future comparison. It's a fun way to keep your cognitive functions awake and working.

Now you and your doc will decide if further investigation is needed or if "We'll just keep an eye on it." If it's the former, get ready for a more intensive battery of tests that may reveal MCI ("Mild Cognitive Impairment") and whatever "stage" of dementia you may be in.

We'll go over these in the next entry of my journal.

As a reminder, be sure to join your local "Walk To End Alzheimer's". Google the title to find out how and where to register. Maybe I'll see you there.

Thanks for reading