16. How does a head injury affect the development of Alzheimer's disease? Some studies have shown that people who have suffered previous head injuries with loss of consciousness from which they recovered have an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease. However, other studies show no link between head injury and the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
17. Does educational level affect the development of Alzheimer's disease? Research suggests that there is a connection between the more years of formal education a person has and a reduced likelihood of Alzheimer's disease later in life.
Some studies suggest that there is a connection between keeping an active mind by engaging in activities such as crossword puzzles and maintaining mental function.
18. Do mentally stimulating activities protect against Alzheimer's disease? Studies have shown that keeping the brain active may be associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. In a study with nuns, priests, and brothers known as the Religious Orders Study, researchers asked more than 700 participants to describe the amount of time they spent in seven mentally stimulating activities. These activities included listening to the radio, reading newspapers, playing puzzle games, and going to museums.
After following the participants for 4 years, researchers found that the risk of developing Alzheimer's was 47 percent lower on average for those who did these mentally stimulating activities most frequently than for those who did them least frequently.
A growing body of research, including more findings in this group, suggests that the more formal education a person has, the better his or her memory and learning ability will be, even if the brain turns out to have the type of plaques associated with Alzheimer's.
19. What is the relationship between aluminum and the development of Alzheimer's disease? When researchers found traces of this metal in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, some thought it might play a role in causing the disease. However, many studies since then have not shown aluminum to be associated with Alzheimer's disease.
20. How is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed? At specialized centers, doctors can diagnose "possible" or "probable" Alzheimer's disease correctly up to 90 percent of the time. Doctors use several tools to diagnose "probable" Alzheimer's disease. These tools include a complete medical history and tests that measure memory, problem solving, attention, counting, and language abilities. Medical tests such as analysis of blood, urine, or spinal fluid are used to determine if the
Dementia has another cause.
Brain scans allow the doctor to look at a picture of the brain to see if there is anything unusual -- such as evidence of strokes -- that could account for the dementia.
However, the only definite way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease is to find out whether there are plaques and tangles in brain tissue. To look at brain tissue, doctors must wait until they do an autopsy, which is an examination of the body done after a person dies
21. How accurate are tests for Alzheimer's disease? Doctors in specialized Alzheimer's disease treatment centers can now diagnose Alzheimer's disease with up to 90 percent accuracy in a living person.
22. How important is a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease? The earlier an accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is made, the greater the gain in managing symptoms and allowing the person to take part in future life course decisions.
