Early diagnosis of dementia
The importance of early dementia diagnosis is important to many, but not to all.
The Jury is out at present amongst GP’s but for those who agree it is important there is a useful app.
With the potential for long term cost savings and improved quality of life, the benefits of early dementia diagnosis are important to many – although is has to be said in light of new evidence not all. A new iPad app from Cambridge Cognition hopes to provide GPs with a faster, and more accurate assessment tool.
CANTAB mobile is an iPad-based test which sets a series of visual challenges that test for memory loss.
Dementia has been described as a ticking time bomb, affecting more people than cancer or heart disease, however for many of the growing number of people in Britain who suffer from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, a diagnosis is still slow in coming.
The Alzheimer’s Society say that the the disease will cost the UK more than £23bn this year and it is one of the main causes of disability in later life, although more than a third of sufferers remain undiagnosed.
Early diagnosis is a key pillar in the Department of Health’s national dementia stratergy and a new 10-minute memory test, which has just become available for GPs, could help detect if someone is likely to go on to develop Alzheimer’s or dementia.
CANTAB mobile is an iPad-based test, developed by Cambridge Cognition (CC), which uses voice prompts and touch screen technology to set a series of visual challenges that test for episodic and short-term memory loss, which can indicate later problems. It also differentiates between memory problems that may be caused by depression.
