I thought we had another year...

Brad turns 15 this month. About a month ago, he asked me if we could go get his learner's permit on his birthday. I thought we had another year before we had to worry about driving. So over the last month, I have been getting accustomed to the idea. I think it will be similar to him going to middle school and high school. Before both of those milestones, I looked at him and thought there is no way that he is old enough or mature enough to be ready. When the time came for him to go to middle school and high school, he seemed mature enough. I think it is more a matter of me getting my mind ready for the change.

Read more about Leigh's eldest getting ready to drive on her blog.

Screening for Alzheimer's Disease

The Alzheimer's Association has said that they do not support one-time screening for Alzheimer's disease. They estimate that as many as 50% of people with Alzheimer's do not receive a formal diagnosis until after the dementia as significantly progressed. Therefore, they suggest setting up a baseline cognitive evaluation with regular follow-up assessments to help detect the disease as soon as possible. This way, tracking a cognitive decline over time would be detected far sooner than a one-time screening. In particular, they urge this practice of setting up a baseline with regular follow-ups to be part of the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit.

The Association defines a screening as a one-time procedure, typically the administration of a test that gives a numeric score. They have found that such a score does not accurately indicate the presence or absence of the disease. Rather, many times, these screenings yield numerous false positives and false negatives.

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