Doctors miss early signs of dementia

CHICAGO - Doctors accustomed to diagnosing physical ailments too often miss symptoms of mental decline that may be early signs of dementia in the elderly, say researchers.

"As a result, these patients do not have the benefits of early medical treatment or the opportunity to make legal and financial decisions while they are still able," psychiatrist Sanford Finkel of the University of Chicago Medical School told the Congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

His study since 2000 of 2150 people in Illinois aged 65 or older found up to 28 per cent of participants showed symptoms of cognitive impairment. Yet their physicians noted the symptoms in the medical records of only 6 per cent of patients and only 2 per cent were prescribed drugs.

In addition, doctors diagnosed only one-quarter of the 25 per cent of participants with symptoms of depression.

"These statistics represent a major public health problem and have serious implications for our ageing population," said Professor Finkel.

"Primary care physicians are very good at diagnosing the physical disorders associated with ageing, but they often have not been trained to recognise early symptoms or don't have the time to evaluate patients with the mental disorders that afflict a large proportion of elderly people."

Doctors should look for changes in patients' routines such as a lack of interest in shopping, housework or socialising; changes in sleep patterns; a lack of energy; sudden, unexplained weight loss; vague or tangential answers to questions; and an inability to follow instructions.

Early diagnosis opened the way to treatment with drugs that can slow or reverse memory problems and head off family disagreements over drafting or revising a patient's will.

- REUTERS