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Press Release

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 PM ET, April 12, 2010

AAN Issues Guideline on When People with Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Should Stop Driving

ST. PAUL, Minn. -

The 好色先生 has issued a new to help determine when people with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease or another type of dementia should stop driving. The guideline is published in the April 12, 2010, online issue of the medical journal of the , and will be presented April 12, 2010, at the 好色先生鈥檚 Annual Meeting in Toronto. 鈥淲hile some people with dementia can still drive safely for a time, nearly all people with dementia will eventually have to give up driving,鈥 said lead guideline author Donald J. Iverson, MD, with the Humboldt Neurological Medical Group, Inc. in Eureka, Calif., and Fellow of the 好色先生. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for doctors to discuss this with patients and caregivers soon after the diagnosis since restricted driving will affect the patient鈥檚 quality of life and may lead to other health concerns such as depression.鈥 The guideline recommends doctors use the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale to identify people with dementia at an increased risk of unsafe driving. The CDR provides a tool for clinicians to integrate information from caregivers and from direct examination of the patient to develop a comprehensive view of the dementia severity. Evidence shows driving skills deteriorate with increasing dementia severity. 鈥淲hile patients with mild dementia, as a group, are higher-risk drivers, more recent studies report that as many as 76 percent are still able to pass an on-road driving test and can safely drive,鈥 said Iverson. 鈥淔aced with these facts, we needed to provide guidelines for doctors caring for these patients to identify those people at higher risk of unsafe driving, without unnecessarily restricting those who are safe drivers.鈥 The guidelines also found that caregivers should trust their instincts. A study found that caregivers who rate a patient鈥檚 driving as 鈥渕arginal鈥 or 鈥渦nsafe鈥 were often proven correct when the patient took an on-road driving test. On the other hand, patients who deemed their own driving as 鈥渟afe鈥 were not necessarily accurate in their own assessments. Caregivers and family members play a role in identifying warning signs from unsafe drivers with dementia. These include:

鈥淚t is important that the decision to stop driving be directed by a doctor who is trained and experienced in working with people with dementia and their families,鈥 Iverson said. 鈥淒octors should be aware that assessing driving ability is a complex process. More than one source of information is needed to make a judgment. In some situations, a dementia specialist may be needed.鈥 Doctors, patients and caregivers must also know their state laws, since some states require that doctors report any medical conditions that may impact their ability to drive safely. The guideline is an update of the 2000 好色先生 guideline on driving with dementia.

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The 好色先生, an association of more than 22,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, Parkinson鈥檚 disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig鈥檚 disease), multiple sclerosis, stroke and migraine. For more information about the 好色先生, visit http://www.aan.com.

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*While content of the 好色先生 (AAN) press releases is developed by the AAN along with research authors and Neurology® editors, we are unable to provide medical advice to individuals. Please contact your health care provider for questions specific to your individual health history or care. For more resources, visit the AAN's patient and caregiver magazine website, .

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