The definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease requires microscopic examination of brain tissue, something that cannot be performed safely in a living patient. Instead, physicians use a constellation of symptoms and patterns of progression, combined with exclusion of all other causes of dementia, to diagnosis patients with the disease. But there are many alternative causes of memory loss in the elderly that must be excluded in order to make the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Many of these have signs and symptoms that overlap, making it difficult to determine the correct diagnosis. Read more →

Biopsies are important in the detection of cancerous and precancerous lesions, but they are painful, require anesthesia, and can leave scars. A new tool may remove the needles and blades involved, replacing them with a noninvasive, handheld scanner. A researcher at Queensland University of Technology developed the “virtual biopsy” tool. It is a small device, about the size of a credit card, which is simply waved over a suspicious lesion. The tool uses bioimpedance spectroscopy to detect changes in the tissue. Read more →

… or if it’s half right, which half?

Warning: If you want a rant, filled with gross generalizations about psychiatry, this isn’t one.

If you’ve ever given or received the gift of a psychiatric diagnosis, odds are there was something seriously wrong with it. Research has shown that many therapists have a poverty of diagnoses, and are prone to faddishly offer up their pet diagnosis. Read more →