Memory Clinic - Team MD Gianfranco Spalletta

The Team of MD Gianfranco Spalletta carries out activities of prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of dementia as caused by Alzheimer's disease as well as other pathological causes such as front-lobe dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and dementia associated with other neuropsychiatric disorders.

Particular attention is given to recognizing the early stages of dementia, when the person begins to perceive subjectively the first cognitive disorders, which are manifested through cognitive dysfunction, especially memory disorders, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. The evaluation of the disturbance in the early (pre-symptomatic) disease stage is a key step to arrive at an accurate diagnosis and early intervention.

MD Gianfranco Spalletta's Team has multidisciplinary skills and consists of psychiatrists, psychologists and neurologists specialize in diseases of aging. The patient is accompanied along a thorough diagnostic process, with the ability to perform advanced instrumental tests such as neuroimaging, needed for differential diagnosis. The evaluation phase is composed of four stages:

• collecting the patient's medical history
• evaluation of cognitive functions through multiple neuropsychological tests
• assessment of behavioral disorders (e.g. depression, apathy and psychosis) using structured interview
• assessment of skills and functional autonomy in daily life through specific scales

At the conclusion of the evaluation phase, a diagnostic hypothesis id formed and a treatment plan implemented. The patient is followed throughout the course of the disease with scheduled visits after 3 months, 6 months and annually thereafter.

In addition to drug treatments and nutritional supplements, the Memory Clinic offers customized cognitive rehabilitation programs based on the specific difficulties encountered by the patient. The rehabilitation programs are additionally useful in the prevention and in the treatment of problems related to aging.