Alzheimer’s disease 101 – Diagnosis and Management

How is Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosed?

Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis has not always been straightforward. Doctors have always used elimination methods by assessing thinking and memory impairment skills, identifying behavior changes, and making a judgment. Other tests are also performed to do away with other possible causes of impairment. The downside of this elimination method is the probability of misdiagnosis. But with technological advancement, Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis is about to take a new turn. Companies such as Optina Diagnostics specialize in technology development for timely, non-invasive disease detection through Retinal Deep PhenotypingTM. This way, there will be a factual diagnosis, eliminating the speculation technique.

How to Manage Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease leads to the death of brain cells, thus making the brain work abnormally over time. As a result, the patient’s behavior becomes unpredictable and unusual, creating uneasiness and worry. Sometimes Alzheimer’s disease patients may worry about new things that are out of their normal routine. They may suffer from hallucinations, delusions and paranoia. They also become angry, aggressive, irritable, and avoid any social interaction. Managing such situations shouldn’t be hard. Go through these tips to help you out in managing the behavior that comes with Alzheimer’s disease.

Calm and reassure:

In instances where your loved one becomes violent and restless, try different calming techniques. That can be taking a walk, reading a book, playing music, or any other thing they might enjoy. You can also try engaging him/her in exciting and enjoyable stories that happened many years back. They are more likely to remember old happenings rather than recent happenings. Reminiscing on the good, old days is calming and creates a sense of comfort. Also, keep assuring them daily and whether you get a response or not, be consistent. Finally, always use a soft, affectionate, and protective voice to enhance proper communication.

Take Note of Triggers

Always identify actions, situations that upset and trigger certain behaviors in your loved one and avoid such instances in the future. In case they get upset, try and not confront them right away. You may end up doing more harm than good by either agitating, upsetting or irritating them further. A key point here is, understand them, try not to disagree – you can change the subject or try out a new activity.

Adapt to loved one’s communication method

Always try and adapt to your loved one’s ways of life, starting with their communication methods. You can start by learning their gestures, body language to understand how they want their communication done. Avoid bringing in new ways of communication – integrate what is already there. For instance, some behaviors such as aggression, pulling clothing, agitation can indicate unhappiness or sometimes they need something but don’t know how to express it. Understanding what they mean through different communication gestures makes communication easier.

Bottom Line

Optina diagnostics’ technological way of diagnosis is the way of the disease to eliminate any form of misdiagnosis on Alzheimer’s disease. This is an efficient way to ensure people are diagnosed early to limit any progression. Also, good management of your loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease will keep them happy and content. This making their care and worthwhile and straightforward.

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