"After the doctor took him through a couple of quick cognitive evaluations, she held dad's hands and said, "This is, or is going to be Alzheimer's. I want you to know that you're not stupid, and it has nothing to do with intelligence. It's a physical disease. And we have to treat it like one." He said he understood, but I don't think it stuck. His score on the Mini-Mental State Examination was 15/30, which I learned later is pretty profound impairment."
"It's really interesting to watch this assessment in action, particularly the part where the subject draws a clock. Apparently it gives a lot of information about the type and scale of dementia a person may have, as well as - in some cases - the likely cause. Dad's clock face was scrunched up in the left hand corner of the dial, and the numbers were all backwards, which the doctor noted as "fascinating," and is something I hope to never inspire a neurologist to say."
A father likely has Alzheimer's disease but has refused confirmatory testing. He experiences night-day confusion and made a 1 a.m. call. His neurologist performed cognitive evaluations; the doctor said the condition is a physical disease unrelated to intelligence and warned it is or will be Alzheimer's. The father's Mini-Mental State Examination score was 15/30, indicating profound impairment. The clock-drawing task showed a scrunched face and reversed numbers, which helped characterize the dementia. An eldest daughter serves as primary unpaid caregiver, handles paperwork, and notes that millions provide similar care. Brothers assist but the daughter remains responsible for decisions and communications, experiencing emotional strain.
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