According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 6 million Americans aged 65 years and older live with Alzheimer’s. This number is expected to more than double, hitting about 13 million people by 2050. This translates to about one in nine people over the age of 65, or 11.3% of Americans, having dementia. And the numbers are just as staggering around the globe.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are best detected early to begin the necessary treatment to ensure a longer and higher quality of life. However, the existing methods of Alzheimer’s diagnosis are too expensive and fail to detect Alzheimer’s early enough.
Cognes, on the other hand, can be self-administered and uses a smartphone, which eliminates the invasive nature of testing. Anyone can self-diagnose and take the necessary steps to ensure a long and productive life.
The State of Alzheimer’s
Most people associate Alzheimer’s with memory loss. While that is a common symptom, Alzheimer’s is much more than that. Mortality from Alzheimer’s is very high, killing more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. One out of every three seniors is deceased due to Alzheimer’s disease or some other form of dementia.
With advancements in medical care and access to health care, passing from other causes has drastically decreased. This, sadly, has not been the case with Alzheimer’s. Between 2000 and 2019, deaths from heart disease, the number 1 killer in the United States, decreased by about 7.3%, while deaths from Alzheimer’s in the same period increased by approximately 145.2%.
Among people with Alzheimer’s at the age of 70, 61% are expected to pass away before the age of 80. This is almost twice the rate compared to people without Alzheimer’s, which is estimated at about 30%. The progression of Alzheimer’s is typically uncertain, with people the age of 65 and above living an average of about four to eight years post-diagnosis. However, there are some instances of people living as long as 20 years after diagnosis.
Benefits of an Early Diagnosis
Many people are typically reluctant to see a doctor if they are experiencing memory problems. They might hide their symptoms and family members may even cover for them since loss of independence and driving privileges come with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Since Alzheimer’s does not have a cure on the market yet, many people question the importance of getting a diagnosis in the first place.
Despite making an Alzheimer’s or related dementia diagnosis, physicians cannot offer a reliable treatment. Understanding your diagnosis is beneficial and will allow you to understand what you can do and what steps to take moving forward. Often, Alzheimer’s can be accompanied by other impairments. After diagnosis, doctors could recommend treatments to help the patient live a much fuller life. As the recent world-renowned FINGER study has shown, a multi-domain intervention will delay cognitive impairment and disability among persons with an increased dementia risk.
Doctors can also help through drug and non-medicated programs and can help limit the burden suffered by patients. Using drugs, doctors can aid in limiting the decline in cognitive symptoms and memory loss. These doctors can even guide patients into getting into clinical trials that may have a chance of limiting the progression of the disease.
People living with dementia depend heavily on caregivers. Doctors can offer helpful advice on the strategies they can use to help develop an environment that best suits them, how to establish programs and routines and develop the skills necessary to enrich the lives of these patients.
Getting a diagnosis as early as possible can help guide the patient and the people around them on the best course of action for the future. You can proceed to make informed decisions on a wide array of issues.
- The resources and the community services you need
- How to develop strategies for handling future financial issues that are likely to arise
- The residential options and those at home
- The medical decisions and the expectations of needs in the future
The State of Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
Currently, diagnosis requires a wide array of highly skilled physicians. They need a primary doctor, a professional in matters of the brain (a neurologist), and one trained in treating older patients (geriatricians). These experts will monitor the patient’s history and the symptoms involved.
Evaluating Possible Conditions
Doctors, with the help of physical evaluation and various scanning technologies like PET and brain imaging tests, will rule out possible conditions such as Parkinson’s, depression, strokes, and other conditions to ensure they treat the disease instead of symptoms to deliver better results overall.
Cognes and Alzerheimer’s
The processes and the manpower involved in Alzheimer’s treatment can be quite expensive. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost about $355 billion in 2022, with projections putting the number at $1 trillion by 2050. This can make treatments for Alzheimer’s inaccessible for millions of people, especially minority groups.
This is one of the problems Cognes is looking to solve. Cognes is self-administered as well as non-invasive. With a smartphone, patients can get a diagnostic screening quickly and drastically lower costs by reducing the diagnostic process. This translates to people getting a diagnosis as early as possible, allowing them to seek out treatment before their conditions worsen.
Using new and advanced technologies, Alzheimer’s can be detected early in anyone, anywhere in the world. Using Cognes, patients can get their diagnosis faster, and it will cost less for patients and the healthcare provider. This will help close a crucial gap, as about 50–80% of Alzheimer’s patients worldwide remain undiagnosed.
How does Cognes work?
Cognes uses software and machine learning to analyze an individual’s likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s by examining the patient’s facial and cerebral features over time. Cognes can point out the nuances of Alzheimer’s and other dementias through this technology, as the program is designed to address their specific symptoms.
It does this through every stage of the disease, making it a lot more efficient when compared to the competition.
For people who have Alzheimer’s and other dementias, Cognes is a revolutionary tool in its challenge. It could save billions of dollars in treatment and man-hours involved in caregiving, which provides even the less privileged with a chance of a higher quality of life.