brain shrinkage

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Morgan - 29 Jan 2005 18:39 GMT

I had a MRI on my brain Nov 03
I had another one this month. My doctor says the brain test, results said
my brain had shrunk. I am 61 yrs old. She said this was a red flag to
indicate Alzheimer's. Is this true?? she is doing blood work, but not sure
if it is to test more, I was overwhelmed and didn't ask. I work full time
and have to do lot of thinking on my job. I have slowed down a lot this last
year. Is it possible these are early warning signs? and does anyone know how
long it takes once these things start happening? Maybe I am over reacting??
--
http://my.tupperware.com/jeancrawford

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Dennis P. Harris - 30 Jan 2005 03:11 GMT

> I had a MRI on my brain Nov 03
> I had another one this month. My doctor says the brain test, results said
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> year. Is it possible these are early warning signs? and does anyone know how
> long it takes once these things start happening? Maybe I am over reacting??

have you had a cognitive skills assessment, such as the MMPI?

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Morgan - 30 Jan 2005 13:20 GMT

what does that mean? cognitive skills asseesment? MMPI? and will blood
work show anything, I am going this week for blood work

--

> On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:39:27 -0600 in alt.support.alzheimers,
> "Morgan" <morgan_jc@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I had a MRI on my brain Nov 03
>> I had another one this month. My doctor says the brain test, results
said
>> my brain had shrunk. I am 61 yrs old. She said this was a red flag to
>> indicate Alzheimer's. Is this true?? she is doing blood work, but not
sure
>> if it is to test more, I was overwhelmed and didn't ask. I work full
time
>> and have to do lot of thinking on my job. I have slowed down a lot this
last
>> year. Is it possible these are early warning signs? and does anyone
know how
>> long it takes once these things start happening? Maybe I am over
reacting??
>
> have you had a cognitive skills assessment, such as the MMPI?
>
>

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Lee - 30 Jan 2005 15:37 GMT

think bloodwork is one of the steps in diagnosis... i.e. they check to
make sure everything there is normal - if it isn't, they'll have something
to follow up on ....

AD is a diagnosis they get round to only by ruling out everything else ...
bloodwork is part of the process

> what does that mean? cognitive skills asseesment? MMPI? and will blood
> work show anything, I am going this week for blood work
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> >
> >

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pellmellwillynilly@hotmail.com - 30 Jan 2005 16:14 GMT

Cognitive skills are thinking skills. To test these, you'd probably see
a neuropsychologist, who would administer a variety of tests to see how
well you remember short-term and longer-term, how well you learn new
information, how fast and accurate you are with a pencil, what your
current IQ is, etc.

An MMPI might also be given, but not to measure cognition. You can read
about the MMPI at this site:
http://www.pearsonassessments.com/tests/mmpi_2.htm

The MMPI is a test of psychopathology, which means it helps identify
whether you're depressed, obsessive-compulsive, anxiety and a host of
other psychological problems. I was given an MMPI along with my
cognitive and neurological tests because the neuropsych wanted to see
how I tested currently for depression and anxiety.

None of my tests were definitive, and it's possible that none of yours
will be either. Mine served as a baseline, which means we go back and
redo the tests next year to see if there's a decline.

> what does that mean? cognitive skills asseesment? MMPI? and will blood
> work show anything, I am going this week for blood work
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> know how
> >> long it takes once these things start happening? Maybe I am over

> reacting??
> >
> > have you had a cognitive skills assessment, such as the MMPI?
> >
> >

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