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mimosalane Asked April 2011

Why can't they make it a law to let everyone over 50 years of age get a brain scan?

I personally know of folks (You do too!) who should have started taking Alzheimer meds long ago. Yet they walk around with this air of diplomatic immunity about them, everyday doing risky things and getting away with it. There are things that can be noticed on a brain scan (i.e., percent shrinkage of the brain) that could save lives, especially those of innocent victims in auto accidents and house fires resulting from people with these problems.

Piratess2011 Apr 2011
you forgot NPD Narcisstic Personality Disorder..they also do strange behaviors within family units and are hard to diagnose...so there are more diseases that should be diagnosed early...but will a brain scan really show what you are looking for...they are on the forefront of studying the brain still...we will have to wait and see if certain brain areas show disease early...but as I mentioned there is so much still to study it is not an exact science as of yet. In the future if you want to think of it in the way of advance medical science it could also be used as an adverse way again folks as well..be careful what you wish for...just thinking out loud. But indeed if it becomes a situation where there may be an emergency situation whomever you suspect in your surroundings may benefit from a review.

CallMeIshmael Apr 2011
Oops, misread your post. You didn't say "mandatory". But even so, the bottom line is that 1 - the diagnosis is unreliable, and 2 - according to the very first sentence on alz.org, "Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer's."

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CallMeIshmael Apr 2011
How about this...

"It's More Than Coincidence that Most of the Most Over-Diagnosed Medical Conditions Are "Treated" With Drugs that Make Billions for Big Pharma"

and...

**Alzheimer's disease. "Most people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease do not actually have Alzheimer's," says Dr. Teitelbaum. "This was shown in a recent Honolulu study (White et al) of 426 men, looking at autopsy results (the only reliable way to make the diagnosis)."

Dr. Teitelbaum says other conditions can cause cognitive impairment that overlaps symptoms of Alzheimer's: low thyroid, nutritional deficiencies, side effects of medication, low testosterone in men, and pseudodementia, a form of cognitive impairment that can be caused by primary clinical depression."**

So yes, I'm totally opposed to your "mandatory brain scan" law.

195Austin Apr 2011
I think that if you feel that a relative is having problems you can take them to a neurologist and he or she can order a scan.

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