Dementia DIY Test

Great tip here today from Dr Marilyn Glenville – try this cognitive impairment test to see how your brain is working:

The Six Item Cognitive Impairment Test

Taken from my book Natural Solutions for Dementia and Alzheimer’s

This test is used to screen those individuals who are thought to be at risk of dementia. You can have a go at testing yourself, but you’ll need a partner to read you the questions and note down your score for each question. At the end, add up your score to give you a total out of 28.

Before you begin, the questioner needs to find a random address (make one up or look one up on the Internet – it must be something unfamiliar) with five parts (such as Mary [1] Jones [2], 32 [3] High Street [4], Essex [5], where the numbers in square brackets denote each of the five parts) and repeat it clearly to the person being tested after you’ve asked (and had the answer to) question 2. For all the questions the answers are spoken, not written down.

1. What year is it? Score 0 for a correct answer; 4 if the answer is incorrect.
2. What month is it? Score 0 for a correct answer; 3 if the answer is incorrect.The questioner reads the name and address now and asks the participant to remember it.
3. Without looking at a clock, what time is it to the nearest hour? Score 0 for a correct answer; 3 if the answer is incorrect.
4. Count backwards from 20 to 1. Score 0 if there are no errors; 2 if there is one error only; or 4 for two or more errors.
5. Recite the months of the year in reverse order. Score 0 if there are no errors; 2 if there is one error only; or 4 for two or more errors.
6. Tell me the name and address that I gave you earlier? Score 0 if there are no errors; 2 if there is one error only; 4 for two; 6 for three errors; 8 for four errors; and 10 if the name and address are completely wrong.

Interpreting the score

0–7: No sign of memory problems.

8 or 9: Some evidence of memory problems; see your doctor.

10–28: High evidence of memory impairment; see your doctor to begin further investigation.

Source

For more on brain issues, also see the Brain factsheet in the A-Z here. I would say if you are over 10, follow the advice I give in that to lower brain inflammation.