Dr. Laurel Coleman, a geriatric physician at Maine Medical Center, has been on CBS and quoted in other news outlets recently for her assertion that family members should learn the symptoms and be asked to help in the Alzheimer’s diagnosis earlier in the disease.
For a doctor to ask someone with brewing dementia, “How are you?” isn’t enough, says Dr. Laurel Coleman, a geriatric physician at Maine Medical Center who is part of a federal advisory council tackling the issue.
“So often I hear, ‘The doctor only asks my mom how she is. She says fine and it’s over,'” says Coleman. “That’s not dementia-capable, or dementia-aware, primary care.”
Family input should be mandatory, she told a recent council meeting. It’s the only way to know if the person really is eating, taking her medicines as she claims, and not forgetting to turn off the stove.
Today, the Obama administration announced an additional $50 million for Alzheimer’s research over the coming months, and an additional $106 million in the coming year to research, caregiver support and education. This is an big step in the right direction to defeat this devastating disease.
Despite governmental wrangling on other issues, the National Alzheimer’s Project Act received bipartisan support and was enacted last January. Alzheimers and related dementias already cost our nation $183 billion a year, and with 10,000 baby boomers a day turn age 65there’s not a moment to spare in turning up the heat on research towards prevention and cure.
Step 1 is early diagnosis. The Alzheimer’s Association publishes a list of symptoms, and that’s a good place to start.