Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Alzheimer's Patients Face New Diagnosis

This Article explains the dichotomy of thought in the medical field over the classification of Alzheimer patients. New studies and medical studies have tried to change the majority of Alzheimer’s patients to be labeled as Mild Cognitive Impairment patients (MCI). While this seems to be a medical breakthrough, it really is just confusing the industry. The medical professionals behind this study are trying to further separate two diseases that are almost exactly alike. In my opinion, there really is no difference between mild Alzheimer’s and MCI, but some professionals say otherwise. "We are really now working on trying to identify exactly where people will fit in the continuum of Alzheimer's disease," Thies said. Thies is a medical professional advocating the split of disease between the two entities. He says that many patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease are misdiagnosed. However, a study shows that 99.8 percent of Alzheimer's patients that were labeled as mild carriers of this disease would be changed to MCI patients. They would no longer be classified as Alzheimer's patients. While this seems to be very easily changed, it isn't.

If this classification process was instituted, the cost in millions of jobs, millions of donation dollars, and medical dichotomy would fully change the economy. Alzheimer's currently affects almost 3 million people in the United States. A significant change in insurance policies and medical care for that many people would have drastic effects on the economy. People would buy into the fallacy that MCI and Alzheimer's are actually two separate diseases, whereas in reality, they are actually just different stages of memory loss. In my opinion, until more research is done, no change to Alzheimer's patients should be publicized because the American public is known for buying into lies and without realizing it, changing the way they live to substantiate these lies.

4 comments:

Amber said...

While you offer a detailed explanation of your topic Derek, I am still a little confused. What would be the effect on jobs when changing a diagnosis to MCI? I am thinking jobs would remain the same besides the fact the employees are dealing with newly MCI classified patients instead of Alzheimer's patients. However, I agree with your perspective on insurance policies. This would just be troublesome, time-consuming and costly for both the patient and insurer. You also state that until more research is done, changes should not be made but I know every day research is continuing to be done, when would you consider enough research is sufficient? In the medical field, it’s hard to come to conclusions about anything because illnesses and health-related problems can be mysteries within themselves. Hopefully, this MCI vs. Alzheimer’s debate will be resolved in an educated way.

Peyton Moore said...

So are you saying that Alzheimer's and MCI are the same disease (basically memory loss) but on different levels? Which one is more severe then? How does dementia fall into play with this new diagnosis? I know many Alzheimer's patients are also diagnosed with dementia at the same time. Also, if there is such a little difference between the two, do the patients get medicated differently? This is pretty interesting and Im curious as to how research will improve and clarify these studies in the next few years.

D.McKee said...

Amber, I realized that I didn’t really explain how I think that the economy will actually be affected by this change in patient diagnosis. In my mind, I think if they basically demote(for a lack of a better word) the Alzheimer’s patients to being classified as MCI patients, all of the jobs that were focused in research for Alzheimer’s, all of the donations, all of the insurance coverage, and all of the families getting medical help will be completely lost. Insurance providers do not provide coverage for MCI. Therefore, people that would have gotten medical coverage when they were classified as Alzheimer patients will not receive any help medically for dementia. I believe the lack of coverage will definitely affect the economy because the healthcare in the United States is one of the most impactful forces we have on the economy. Without having coverage, people will use all of their income to support their loved ones with the disease. Thus, a lack of disposable income will result, causing the entire economy to tank.

D.McKee said...

Peyton, from the research I have done, Alzheimer’s is basically the next step from MCI. Mental Cognitive Impairment is often the precursor to Alzheimer’s. The new medical research that is being done says the Alzheimer’s patients that do not have severe Alzheimer’s should be classified as MCI patients. The medical industry is doing this to basically lighten their cost in research and care for the patients. MCI is often the result of aging, meaning that medical insurance policies will not cover it. I find a problem with that because people that are currently receiving treatment for Alzheimer’s will not get the same treatment covered anymore because they will no longer be classified as Alzheimer’s patients. I agree with you. I want to see where this medical research goes and how it eventually will affect the economy at large.