Dementia is a serious condition affecting nearly 40 million people worldwide and over 5 million people in the United States. The most common type of Dementia, Alzheimer’s, is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. It is a disease that can also have a significant financial and emotional impact on the patient and those who care for the patient.

Fortunately the physicians at Radiology Consultants Inc., working with Boone Hospital, offer advanced imaging techniques that allow early diagnosis of Dementia while allows earlier therapy that can decrease the impact of this disease. The examination is a PET scan of the brain. The examination consists of nuclear medicine imaging examination of the brain after administration of a medication that shows up on the nuclear medicine images in a person’s brain. The radiologists at Boone were the first ones to offer this service in Columbia and have years of experience performing the examination. Although current examination methods are very good, detecting Dementia in over 90% of patients who have it, there is a new drug being introduced (Amyvid) for the examination hat has promise to further improve the exam. Again, the radiologists at RCI were the first in Columbia to perform this exam.