Being Patient speaks to Professor Peter van Wijngaarden, the deputy director of the Centre for Eye Research in Australia (CERA), who is developing a “revolutionary” Alzheimer’s eye test that is entering a trial phase. The test has been funded by philanthropists like Bill Gates and applies imaging technology that is similar to what is used in used in NASA satellites.
I was diagnosed with cataracts and glaucoma just weeks before my dementia diagnosis. Is this related.
No Diane. This research scans only the retina because it is known to reflect certain brain diseases.
Is all. Dementia ((loss of memory) labeled Alzheimer’s?
Is all. Dementia ((loss of memory) labeled Alzheimer’s?
No Liz. Dementia is brain failure. The most common single cause, accounting for about 60% of all cases, is Alzheimer’s. The most common early symptom of Alzheimer’s is short term memory loss.
But the many other diseases and conditions causing dementia produce different early symptoms. The second most common cause of dementia is fronto-temporal lobar degeneration (“FTD”) for which the earliest symptoms are uninhibited behaviours or word-finding deficiencies.