Mount Sinai South Nassau, Alzheimer's Foundation of America offer free memory screenings to encourage brain health
NEW YORK -- Doctors in Nassau County are urging people to be proactive about caring for their brains.
A major hospital and the Alzheimer's Foundation of America are offering free screenings to check memory, stressing that early detection can be crucial.
A 15-minute series of questions to gauge memory, language, thinking skills and other cognitive functions is known as a "memory screening."
"We like to call it a check up from the neck up," President and CEO of Alzheimer's Foundation of America Charles Fuschillo said. "[Memory screening] should be a part of the annual screening that everybody receives from their primary care physician."
The Alzheimer's Foundation of America has teamed up with the medical staff of Mount Sinai South Nassau to encourage brain health.
Brenda Hill, a retired New York City public school principal, was among the first in line.
"I just want to get a head start on what to do, what are the symptoms to look for. My grandmother passed with dementia," she said. "I'm a retired New York City worker, and we're going through an insurance issue right now."
Hill wants to get her insurance and paperwork in order just in case to save any possible future pain for her family.
Jeff Ray's family is going through pain now. His wife, Bonnie, has Alzheimer's, and he is now learning about preventative memory screening but is personally against genetic testing.
"I would never want to know if I have the gene because that would just cause me anxiety for the rest of my life. But a memory screening where I can improve my diet, my fitness, I would 100% be behind that," Ray said.
"Not everything that has a cognitive deficiency is dementia," Dr. Alan Wong, with Mount Sinai South Nassau, said.
He said memory problems can also be caused by sleep, thyroid, vitamin issues and depression.
Results are not a diagnosis, but a memory screening can suggest if someone should see a physician for a full evaluation.
If early signs of dementia are indicated, Wong suggests, "lifestyle modifications, better exercise, blood pressure management, even certain vitamins. And then, of course, there are actual medications that can be given."
The "vaxmobile" will be out in the Nassau community offering free memory screenings.