A New Frontier in Neurology Care
By Lisa Johnson, MSN, NP-C

 Currently, cutting edge Dementia care is being performed by Dr. Khalifa Mansour and the NeuroWellness Institute.  Dementia and its causes need to be identified in the early stages.  Just like conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, early intervention with dementia is critical. Current methods of prevention and treatment can significantly delay both the onset of symptoms and the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).  Through a combination of family education, drug and antioxidant therapy and lifestyle changes, the effect of this disease can be delayed for three to six years, without extending life expectancy.  The result is improved quality of life, reduced costs and a lower need for both formal and informal care for victims of this disease.

Unfortunately, dementia is not an easy condition for either family or physicians to deal with.  Busy primary physicians do not have the mechanisms in place to accurately detect AD in the early stages.  In fact, detection of dementia due to AD and other causes in the primary setting usually occurs 2 to 4 years after symptom onset, if at all. 

The Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE), perhaps the most popular and most widely used assessment, is a broad but simple measure of memory, orientation, and executive function.  Despite its past popularity, it cannot reliably distinguish mild cognitive impairment or very mild dementia from normal aging.  The MMSE is accurate in identifying impairment only when it has progressed to dementia. 

A new modality that aids in the subtle qualities of early dementia can be picked up by a new computer generated assessment tool called The MCI Screen.  This assessment showed overall accuracy of 98% with sensitivity of 97% for mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, and 88% specificity for normal aging.  The MCI Screen enabled detection of early-stage impaired patients much more accurately than other assessments that have traditionally been used by clinicians. This memory test is a short, accurate and non-invasive assessment that takes approximately ten minutes and measures your performance on a series of memory and judgment tasks. Individuals who suspect any changes in their memory should be tested and rechecked annually to follow any progression and for those individuals with a family history of dementia, checks should be started at the age of 50.

The combination of General Neurology/General Neurosurgery, such as care in both an ambulatory and critical care setting, with multidisciplinary neuro-programs makes the care with Dr. Khalifa Mansour an exceptional resource for patients and referring physicians all over the world.

The philosophy of the neurologists and neurosurgeons at the NeuroWellness Group is based on the recognition that the treatment of patients with serious illness requires more than technical expertise.  We are committed to value the compassion and sensitivity that are an essential part of the doctor-patient-family relationship.  We believe that attention to the continuum of care is very important in reaching a successful outcome and that patients and their families deserve detailed and understandable explanations regarding their condition.