Alzheimer's Expert David Roeltgen, MD shares Alzheimer's management news and commentary at OurAlzheimers.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118 http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118 http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/47502/tips-independence Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:49:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD As we have discussed many times, Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disorder.   Over time skills and abilities decline.  What someone with Alzheimer’s can do one week is not necessarily what he or she can do the next week.  So we all must acknowledge that a time will come when the patient with Alzheimer’s disease cannot live independently.  What we as health care professionals and you as family and... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/47502/tips-independence http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/43990/agree-diagnosis Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:55:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD I would like to revisit three topics that I covered previously: the issue of depressive “pseudo-dementia,” the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and the fact that health care professionals do not always agree on a diagnosis.         Each week I take part in our memory disorders consensus meeting.  Usually there are 3 neurologists, 1 psychiatrist and 3 nurse practitioners, all of whom have... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/43990/agree-diagnosis http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/43096/introduction Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:20:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD For the last year, I have blogged about Alzheimer’s disease.  I have discussed the diagnosis, the treatment, driving issues and many related topics.  One thing I have not done is put Alzheimer’s disease in the context of the body part that is failing in this disease, the brain.  For many people this topic may sound intimidating or perhaps unrelated to the disease.  However, I will attempt to make this discussion... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/43096/introduction http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/40200/driving-dementia Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:45:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD Last year I discussed an important topic that I believe is worth revisiting. I say this because in our weekly patient discussion, it is discussed more often than any other topic, except for the individual diagnosis for each patient. The topic that I am referring to is driving.  For personal, economic, social, medical and many other reasons, driving is an important part of our lives.  It allows independence and mobility and, for... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/40200/driving-dementia http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/39435/ready-make-change Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:49:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD In previous blogs, in the spring of 2008 and the fall of 2007, I discussed different behavioral strategies for which there is some support indicating that they may help prevent or delay the mental impairments in Alzheimer’s disease.  Today I would like to briefly review a couple of those and extend the discussion.   I have indicated that physical and mental exercise may help in this regard.  Animal studies and some... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/39435/ready-make-change http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/35563/confusing-terms Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:05:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD What are amnesia, aphasia, anomia, alexia, agraphia, acalculia, (relatively commonly used terms) and agnosia, apraxia, anosagnosia, anosadiaphoria (relatively uncommonly used terms)?  Wow, I have been doing behavioral neurology for over 25 years and I know I missed a few of the “a” words here....In numerous previous blogs I have frequently referred to disorders of thinking and memory and occasionally I have used the... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/35563/confusing-terms http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/34964/brain-alphabet Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:20:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD Pictures of the brain: what are they and what do they tell us?   CT, CTA, MRI, MRA, fMRI, PET are an alphabet soup of brain tests that might be used in evaluation of a person suspected of possibly having Alzheimer’s disease.  I would like to define and describe each of these tests and then briefly explain how each one might be used.   CT stands for computerized tomography and it, as with the other acronyms, is... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/34964/brain-alphabet http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/29669/caregivers-cope Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:02:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD We received a question some time back that asked about caretaker coping mechanisms and resources.  Some related questions were: "Are there any trends that seem to have more positive outcomes on the family?"  "What support do families find helpful?"  "Do men or women find it harder to deal with the problem if their spouse develops the disease?"   Good Caregiving for People with Alzheimer's Disease   I would... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/29669/caregivers-cope http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/23250/problem-medicine Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:14:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD In my last Alzheimer's blog we asked, "Why is it that sometimes health professionals disagree about the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in a specific patient?" For example, today in our group meeting (Where a group of us review the patients that we have seen during the week), we discussed a patient who was told by a previous physician that she did not have Alzheimer's disease, but our group agreed that she probably did... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/23250/problem-medicine http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/22326/testing Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:16:00 -0000 David Roeltgen, MD Often when a person goes to see a doctor because he or she has concerns about memory or the possibility of Alzheimer's disease, the doctor may recommend "Neuropsychological Testing." It is helpful to have some idea what this is, and what it is used for.  Neuropsychological testing is commonly performed by psychologists. However, other types of clinicians, most commonly educators, may also do the testing. The tests involve... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/118/22326/testing