Dementia - Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. Early symptoms typically involve memory impairment for newly acquired information such as misplacing objects, followed by slowly progressive difficulties with language such as word-finding difficulties. As the disease progresses, there are often problems with reasoning and decision-making.
Albany Med Advantage
There is no single, comprehensive test for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. Our neurology specialists will perform examinations and evaluations to determine a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease – in addition to a complete medical history and physical examination. Diagnostic procedures include:
- Neuropsychological tests
- Blood work
- CT or MRI Scans
- Electroencephalogram (EEG)
The Neurosciences Institute relies heavily on the diagnostic expertise of our neuroradiologists and neurointerventionalists. Albany Medical Center has two 1.5 Tesla GE Signa MR Scanners which operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and three CT Scanners.
The Advanced Neuro Imaging Research Center – a partnership with GE Global research – studies innovative ways to diagnose and eventually prevent or treat memory disorders, like Alzheimer’s disease, by using the new GE Signa 3.0 Tesla MRI. It is the only one of its kind in upstate New York and provides physicians high resolution imaging to identify the causes of this debilitating disease.
Treatments are available to slow the progression of this disease, but there is no cure. The Neurosciences Institute physicians who specialize in dementia will recommend a specific treatment plan based on each individual patient’s lifestyle and needs.
