Topic: Alzheimer's CLOCK test for those w/memory problems.
bettyg
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Long term memories, go back thru your OLDEST photo albums. Do you remember why, when, & where they were taken? Mine ALL have this info written on using acid-free pens or typed on labels on back of them.
Sharing a Alzheimer's simple CLOCK test with you all: ======================================
Draw a circle, and the make a clock putting in all 12 numbers .. simple right?
WHAT TO LOOK FOR as a potential Alzheimer's/dementia patient:
1 - they will draw the SMALLEST circle they can and squeeze numbers in.
2 - numbering is off -- they put all numbers on 1 side or NOT in the areas they should be.
example 1-6 may be in the normal 1-3 position.
Do this now on yourself? How did you do?
I learned this at a AD conference. My sister-in-law died of AD at age 40, yes 40, after having this mind-robbing disease 8-14 years. She was treated for severe depression. Mayo Clinic did an autopsy taking 4 months to rule out other stuf.
Since my brother farmed our family's century farm & she helped outside all the time, yes, she too could have been a victim of lyme disease! We'll never know. Her brain tissue was sent to east coast where her 1 Iowa City dr. went too.
Yes, live in the moment. Admit you can't remember things; hubby tells me I've forgotten a lot lately .. like hearing things for 1st time. Good luck; we're walking in your shoes.
Benign forgetting can yield difficulties in remembering the why/when/where portrayed in pictures.
The "clock test" is a test usually used in stroke patients or other brain injury patients testing for something called "unilateral neglect."
People can get nervous, for example, when they forget where their keys are, but really, a sign of AD is when you forget WHAT your keys are for. Mistaking functions of items is an early AD sign.
Also, the studies that exist thus far are contradictory on any evidence linking Lyme to AD. There are 1-2 studies supporting such a link; there are 2-3 refuting such a link, so it remains up in the air. Of course, if the person is quite young who is exhibiting the dementia, why not try a course of abx, particularly if there is no family history of early-AD. Early AD is primarily genetically linked.
The problem is that dementia-like symptoms can occur in LD, and AD cannot be ruled out as it is a diagnosis that can only be made at autopsy. People are often "diagnosed" with AD by their docs but in fact that is just a hypothesis as definitive diagnosis requires assessing plaques and tangles in neurons which is done at autopsy. There are other dementias that can mimic AD (e.g., Pick's).
Posts: 689 | From western MA (we say buttER and pizzA) | Registered: Nov 2004
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bettyg
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Durameter, this was taught to us Alzheimer's attendees during 1 of Iowa's Alzhemmer's conferences in Des Miones
A highly respected AD expert presented this, as a quick & dirthy way. Betty
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"he is incorrect. i have a phd in this stuff and worked on research in the field for over 20 years."
PHD in what?
Betty, I believe the info you were given is correct.
Google this...
Psychiatric Times(1992), The clock test: a sensitive measure to differentiate normal elderly from those with Alzheimer's disease. J Am Geriatr Soc 40(6):579-584. ... www.psychiatrictimes.com/p981049.html - 28k -
Clock Drawing TestAlzheimer's Disease. Dementia Clock Test image: hypatia. Stay up to date! Dementia Clock Test image: hypatia. Email to a friendPrint this page ... alzheimers.about.com/od/ diagnosisissues/a/clock_test.htm - 21k -
Age and Ageing: The clock-drawing testIn cases of very mild Alzheimer's disease, the clock-drawing test (score range 1-10) can be normal [23]. The sensitivity of the test thus may vary according ... www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ mi_m2459/is_n3_v27/ai_21132656 - 34k -
Just to name a few articles...
JJ
Posts: 919 | From Minnesota | Registered: Jan 2001
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bettyg
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JJ, Thank you for finding a few google articles discussing this. I clicked on 2 out of 3 but wasn't able to get in to read actual stuff.
Durameter, with all due respect to you & your profession; I didn't post this "evidence" per se.
My reason was very simple. Many of us have severe neuro memory loss. I thought if those of us who have this know about this "quick test", it might reassure them that they are NOT as bad as they think, and with the strong qualities of an actual Alzheimer's/dementia patient.
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