The spouse of a patient who acts confused and forgetful wants to know if there is a test to determine whether the patient has Alzheimer's disease. Which response by the nurse is correct?
a. "A diagnosis is made by administering medications and observing for potential improvement in symptoms."
b. "The diagnosis is based on a patient's age, family history, serum apolipoproteins, and genetic testing."
c. "Magnetic resonance imaging to demonstrate brain atrophy is the definitive test to determine Alzheimer's disease."
d. "Proposed diagnostic criteria include measures of cognitive function and the presence of one known biomarker."
ANS: D
In 2010 an international group of AD experts proposed revising diagnostic criteria to add the presence of at least one AD biomarker to current measures of cognitive function after a patient has been observed to have episodic memory impairment. The diagnosis currently is made by observing memory impairment and then measuring cognitive function. Most medications used for AD do not demonstrate sustained or unequivocal improvement, so they would not be useful for diagnostic purposes. The patient's age and family history are risk factors. The serum ApoE level and genetic testing are not used to diagnose AD. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can measure one brain marker of AD; however, brain atrophy has several different causes and is not definitive.
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