Detective Work: The False Alzheimer's Diagnosis

Plenty of health issues mimic the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, including some that physicians don't think to check for. Some are even treatable, once they are properly diagnosed. Melinda Beck has details on Lunch Break. Photo: David R. Lutman for The Wall Street Journal.

Family members of J.D. "Jasper" Cain suspected he had Alzheimer's disease as they watched the once fun-loving father and husband struggle with memory and movement. Three doctors thought he had Parkinson's disease and kept raising his medication dose when he didn't improve.
At his daughter's suggestion, Mr. Cain, of Bedford, Ind., saw a neurologist last year who did an MRI, then a spinal tap. He found that Mr. Cain had a buildup of fluid in the brain called normal pressure hydrocephalus. The fluid was drained with a surgically implanted shunt. Now, 13 years after his symptoms began Mr. Cain, 70, is walking, joking and matching wits with TV's "Jeopardy" again. "It was just like getting my life back," he says. Read More.