The US Preventive Services Task For...

The US Preventive Services Task Force has determined that there is insufficient evidence to commend routine screening for dementia in older adults, according to a June 2 2003 of the present days release from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dementia is a progressive brain dysfunction that shows symptoms such as

* los of fresh memory,

* difficulty performing familiar tasks,

* enigmas with words,

* confusion about time and place,

* poor judgement

* vexed questions with abstract thinking,

* changes in temper and personality, and

* los of initiative.

nation older than 65 years of age are principally at risk for dementia, which be the effects from the destruction of brain small cavitys usually caused by Alzheimer's disease.

The task force construct that some screening tests are effective in detecting dementia; however, a patient's age and education of the same height can affect the accuracy and interpretation of one tests, yielding misleading results. There also is no effective prevention or healing for dementia, so early detection generally provides little benefit.

Task Force Says More Research is povertyed to Determine Usefulness of Routine Screening for Dementia (new release, Rockville, Md: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, June 2 2003)

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