4+ day, 8+ hour ago   (591+ words) When doctors are trying to figure out whether Alzheimer’s is the right diagnosis for an individual with cognitive impairment, they turn to biomarker testing to detect the disease’s hallmark proteins in the blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and brain. While these tests…...

5+ day, 8+ hour ago   (821+ words) It was near closing time on the eve of Chinese New Year when I agreed to see a last-minute urgent booking. My nurse mentioned that Ms. Chan worked down the hall and just needed to pop in quickly, though she…...

5+ day, 21+ hour ago   (377+ words) For families caring for a loved one with dementia, deciding when home care is no longer enough is rarely simple. The signs are often gradual — a missed medication here, a stove left on there — and knowing when to seek more…...

1+ week, 8+ hour ago   (683+ words) While most Alzheimer’s cases aren’t directly caused by genetic mutations, genes still play an important role. Carrying one or two copies of the ApoE4 gene confers a substantially higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s — those who carry two copies have a 60 percent…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (602+ words) Delirium is an abrupt, fluctuating change in cognitive abilities and awareness that is common among older adults who are hospitalized. Roughly half of older adults develop delirium within minutes or hours after surgery, increasing the risk of long-term health issues,…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago   (694+ words) Last year, iconic pop-rock musician Billy Joel cancelled his summer tour dates to undergo treatment for a disorder called normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), which causes symptoms of dementia that are often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. In NPH, the clear…...

2+ week, 8+ hour ago   (492+ words) Age is one of the most important risk factors for Alzheimer’s and other dementias. But scientists aren’t sure why some people develop the disease earlier while others, despite having the protein plaques in their brain that define the disease, never…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago   (509+ words) A brain imaging tau PET scan helps visualize these tangles. The imaging involves injecting a safe amount of radioactive drug tracer that binds tangles in the brain and light up on a scan. A new tracer could bring these tangles…...

3+ week, 8+ hour ago   (595+ words) Despite making fast-paced advances in biomarker technology, many people with dementia receive the wrong diagnosis. The overlap in symptoms and brain pathology — proteins that build up in the brain — across these disorders has made it hard for doctors to differentiate…...

3+ week, 2+ day ago   (197+ words) Journey to Diagnosis is a Being Patient series sponsored by Eisai. As with all of our reporting, the sponsor has no role in choosing guests, shaping questions, or reviewing content before publication. When Sean Terwilliger first began experiencing confusion, difficulty…...