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Individuals wishing to create personal memory fitness test and result record accounts may do so here by filling out the form and making their first $10/year payment for the maintenance of the account. Processing generally takes 48 to 72 hours.

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About Memory

This HTML web page introduces the visitor to the dramatic breakthroughs that have occurred in the memory fitness testing industry - since Dr. Alzheimer first concluded the degenerative disease process that bares his name had mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as sits early signature.

Continuing in Dr. Alzheimer's footsteps is Dr. J. Wesson Ashford, PhD, M.D., who leads a movement to make personal memory titness testing an individual's tool in monitoring their personal memory fitness, and assisting their doctors in monitoring for memory related disorders and neurological disease early onset screening.

Test Instructions

THis area of the center offers visitors a comprehensive interactive tutorial of the memory fitness test plaform's features.

Results Analysis

Comparing scores/results of standardized memory fitness tests taken over a period of time - gives a test taker a historic record - baseline "normal" ranking - of their memory fitness.

While the tests offered here can not diagnose or screen for early onset of neurological disease, they can provide accurate appraisal of a healthy brain's normal ability to form recent memories.

If an individual invests the time to build a historic record of memory fitness testing, and shares that history with their doctors and care givers, they will have given their doctors new and valuable insight into their neurological health and disease prevention programs.

Who We Are

You are reading this section of the center's web page.

References:

The Memory Fitness testing Center is an owned and operated demonstration iBE (Internet Broadcasting Enterprise) of the Internet Broadcasting Association.

The iBA owns and operates iBHealth.net, the health and medical industry value added network service enterprise, where HIPAA compliant online electronic medical record services have removed the liability of illegal access to individual's medical files, and streamlined record keeping in research, clinical practices, and remote health care facilities.

Specifically, the Memory Fitness Testing Center positions a version of Dr. J. Wesson Ashford, PhD., M.D., of Medafile in free access to the online citizen. The technolgists at Bowles-Langley Technologies worked with Dr. Ashford and the online broadcasting specialists at the iBA/iBHealth.net enterprise levels - to create the testing platform used within the Memory Fitness Testing Center.

iBHEALTH visits Dr. Ted Langley, Ph.D.
one of the developers of the BLT-Ashford Short Term Memory and Cognitive Impairment Test. His background is Experimental Psychology and Neurophysiology.

"We are what we remember." That is what Dr. Ted Langley observed about people. It is the workings of our mind - in particular the ability of our mind to remember and use what remember - that defines who we are and how well we are living. Our memory determines our "quality of life". The medical community has long been aware of impaired mental performance of an individual who is fatigued, ill, under too strong of medication or having a reaction to medication.

In the late 1980's Dr. Langley and Henry Bowles, the founder of BLT, saw a need for simple, inexpensive and non-obtrusive method for testing an individual's alertness. They developed such a testing procedure and patented their invention. As 75% of industrial accidents are caused by fatigue, illness and/or recreational drug abuse, their test promised to be valuable in military, industrial applications. At the heart of the testing process is the creating of a Baseline - or the identity of the individual's normal condition - and this is automatically done when the person takes the test several times over a period of time.

The Bowles-Langley Alertness Test makes it possible to screen workers in potentially hazardous jobs for mental alertness. A few of the occupations where safety depends heavily on alertness are truck drivers, construction workers, law enforcement persons, school bus drivers, ship operators, airline pilots, and many more.

The BLT Alertness Test resembles a video game and is fun and interesting to take, but its purpose is to test for normal alertness. From this, the inventors continued to expand their work and identified potential applications for the basic process.

They soon realized that there is a profound need within the medical and health care industries for an effective testing procedure for individual short term memory and cognitive reasoning.. As an individual's immediate ability to learn and remember things is directly related to their alertness - the platform proved appropriate for measuring short-term memory. This became another patent and is the foundation for the Personal Memory Baseline Records and Emergency Medical Information Service test.

The test itself was developed in collaboration with Dr. J. Wesson Ashford, M.D., Ph.D. of the University of Kentucky. Dr. Ashford's background and work are as a Medical Doctor and Neurophysiologist specializing in brain research programs and in day-to-day treatment of older persons, including those afflicted with varying degrees of Alzheimer's Disease.

Following is an interview with Dr. Ted Langley,conducted April 25,2002 at the iBHEALTH studios.

IBH: Ted, does the medical community value early detection?

TL: They definitely do. In every form of health care that addresses a disease or condition - if the patient’s body can do the healing, or most of it - the treatment is easier to administer as well as more effective. When a person is normal and living a healthy life - they can often go through days or months where they are not functioning normally. They may not have cancer or Alzheimer’s, but they aren’t sharp or they may forget where they left their keys. Now sometimes that is just a normal slip up - but in the case of serious neurological disorders - it could be a warning sign.

Throughout the medical community there is unanimous agreement that early detection of aliments increases a patient’s likelihood of recovery and at the very least can prolong not just the patient’s life but also help them to sustain a higher quality of life for a longer period of time. In critical illness - it can mean life or death.

IBH: How does your testing aid in a person’s early detection of medical abnormality?

TL: Our goal in the development of the Short Term Memory and Cognitive Impairment Test (STMCIT) was to supplement what Doctors have been doing for years in the establishing of baseline records - when you go for an annual physical you have blood tests and perhaps an EKG - when you go to the dentist and have x-rays or a Chiropractor and have x-rays - these are no more than baseline records of your personal health condition. These are extremely valuable as over time they create a hard and fast recording of a person’s condition and when something takes a dramatic shift or the body is attacked by disease the doctor’s diagnosis and delivery of treatment is accelerated to the patient.

In the case of the short term memory testing, we can establish a baseline over a relatively short period of time - say a year - once established we can easily detect a decrement in from the baseline normality and ask - why? Does the individual have the flu, are they recovering from surgery, are they reacting to medication, do they have a brain tumor? Without the baseline being established and regular testing of the individual’s short term memory they may be in danger and not be aware - and therefore miss the opportunity for early detection of their ailment.

IBH: So the person’s short-term memory may be below their normal levels and they may not have a serious disease.

TL: Yes, absolutely. What we learned with the alertness testing platforms is that the mind is like any other muscle of the body - it can be overloaded or numbed for a variety of reasons. Surgeons know that the effects to a persons short term memory and cognitive reasoning may last for months - each individual is different but anytime the person’s mind is blacked out and/or there has been intrusive surgery to the body - recovery takes time. IF the patient has a baseline history - resulting from taking the test over a period of time the deviation from the norm and the raise back to it can definitely be tracked.

There comes a time in everybody’s life where the memory decreases. There is a normal aging effect. But there are also diseases like Alzheimer’s that rapidly consume a person’s memory and ability to reason. If a person establishes their baseline early in life, and takes the test regularly, any thing that causes them to have reduced short-term memory can be detected - calling it to their attention they would be advised to take the test again - if their results were continually low - they would be advised to consult with their doctor.

If a person begins their baseline recording young and in a healthy condition they will have installed into their medical history a record of their normalcy. If and when conditions develop like depression, stress, or serious neurological disorder - the testing will detect the deviation from their normal. This alerts them that they aren’t operating as well as they should be and they can in some cases the knowledge will help them deal with the problem. In the cases where they need medical attention it could save their lives.

From the medical communities point of view there is a twofold benefit from establishing the individual’s baseline. The first is that it puts the individual in closer touch with his or her own health. When there is a deviation from the norm it is good that the patient is being the awareness to the doctor. Doctors can’t be proactive enough in their professing medical health awareness to their patients - in the case of the testing and establishing the patient’s awareness of their own baseline - the doctor can use the patient’s awareness and testing record as a toolset in diagnosis and effective treatment.

Having awareness of your own baseline history and taking the test on your own volition creates a willing and motivated patient. The ultimate goal of the medical industry is to prolong high quality of life to the individual. With the baseline and regular testing, an individual is exercising their commitment to health and making it easier for the doctor’s to fulfill their goals in service to the patient.

The other benefit rests within the doctor’s ability to make effective diagnosis and this is where the baseline records come into play. Doctors often are asked to make diagnosis with partial information - with an established set of medical records and baseline records like the BLT-Ashford test, matched to x-rays, medical records and specific medical information about the patient - the doctor’s ability to form accurate diagnosis and provide rapid treatment when needed is optimized.

IBH: What makes your test unique from other memory testing procedures?

TL: Well, there are a number of things. First the test is extremely simple, it is short and now that it is online the individual can take it in comfortable privacy. In the past and with other testing processes, the individual had to be in a doctor’s office and that alone is a basic problem.

IBH: Why is that problematic?

TL: Well unless that doctor has made short-term memory testing part of the patient’s regular scheduled physical examination, the patient would more than likely be in the doctor’s office because they think they are sick. In the case of memory loss or depression the doctor has no baseline to relate the results to. So, the ability for the patient to enroll in a program where they can take the test anytime they want to, as often as they like and when they are comfortable taking it - represents a significant improvement over the present clinical testing that has occurred in the past.

IBH: Are you saying that the present short term memory testing procedures aren’t as effective as yours?

TL: Not at all. I’m saying the need for a patient’s involvement in creating their own baseline of normal short term memory and cognitive function can be an essential tool in motivating them to seek medical attention - if the doctor’s conduct extensive, in-depth testing of the patient in the early detection stage - we may have saved the patient’s life - more importantly the patient may have saved their own life.

IBH: Tell me more about the test itself and why it is easy for the individual to establish their baseline records.

TL: Well, the very design of the alertness tests and the short-term memory tests I developed are to “fit-in” to the individual’s day-to-day life. The testing process in similar to a video game and now with the online service - it can be as easy as checking your e-mail. We were able to combine the testing process and the record keeping reporting process into a unique format that is essentially the same as playing an online casino game - only with the test you are guaranteed to be a winner.

IBH: What about the expense of taking the test or enrolling the baseline record service?

TL: Well this whole project is motivated by our commitment to save lives and support the medical and health care industries - not to create an expensive medical or administrative record keeping service.

IBH: Sounds good but what does that translate into for the individual that wants to take the test or join the record keeping service?

TL: Well, we have licensed the administration of the test and the operations of the online, on-going record keeping services to the iBHEALTH Internet Broadcasting Network operations. Under the license the iBHEALTH operation is entitled to promote the services as flagship Internet Broadcasting Enterprise demonstration models. We reached an agreement with the iBHEALTH organization and their network that maintains the testing center and broadcasting of data for the service where the testing could be accessible as well as affordable for online visitors to engage the program. I don’t know what the specific pricing is to be, but presently we are talking in the 2-3 dollar range per testing - assuming the first expense includes at least two tests to establish the initial baseline of comparing the two test - you see that gives us the required data to compare and form the beginning of the individuals personal baseline. The iBHEALTH organization is committed to marketing the test and the service in a variety of programs - all priced so the expenses of the services are covered, their licensing fees are paid and there is a little left over for the operations.

IBH: Earlier you mentioned Alzheimer’s. What significance does the test have for those who may be afflicted with that disease?

TL: Alzheimer’s is a tragedy. There are over five million people who have some stage of this mind crippling disease. There will be a million or more people whose diagnosis each year accelerates them towards a terrible death. Can you imagine a more horrible death - to be trapped inside of your body - no to be lost inside of your body - and that is the end of your life?

Well, the decrements of short-term memory and minor cognitive impairment are the signatures of early detection of Alzheimer’s. They are also a normal part of getting older. The differences are that with Alzheimer’s they come on faster. So the ideal situation for someone getting older is to have established their baseline when they are health and young - monitor their baseline regularly - and, when a disease like Alzheimer’s attacks their mind - they would have early detection.

IBH: You make it sound so simple. Is it and what would the true benefit be to the individual if they did detect Alzheimer’s early on?

TL: It is that simple and hopefully very inexpensive to take the test, establishing a baseline record over a period of time.

As to the value of early detection of Alzheimer’s there are tremendous potentials. Early detection of this disease can motivate the individual to seek medical attention - that should prompt more testing and treatment. There have been advances in treatment - most notably by the pharmaceutical industries - that slow the disease’s progress. We are talking about extending individuals healthy life 10-15 years. That is a miracle! What’s more, is that individual now can have a chance to take advantage of progress in the future. The medical community is investing time and money into finding a cure for that disease or at the very least finding a treatment that will arrest the disease’s progress towards robbing the patient’s mind.

IBH: So you see a day when something like the BLT-Ashford test will part of everyone’s personal health maintenance?

TL: That would be wonderful and yes that would make me very happy. The value of that really rests within the individuals who start using the testing now. I cannot over emphasis how important it is for an individual to establish their baseline. The younger the better. Every year there are tens of thousands of young people who develop brain tumors, mental conditions that are stress induced, or have a number of reactions to drugs or pharmaceuticals. Early detection of their short term memory could save many of these lives.

What generally happens is a condition develops to the point where it is obvious to the individual they have a problem. They procrastinate or don’t recognize they need medical attention. The condition continues to take more and more of their body’s health. Eventually they seek medical care or are taken into medical care. At that point they have lost the first race in preserving their health. They are now on the defense against an assailant that hold ground inside of their bodies. It is combat and they have lost the first encounters. Treatment becomes difficult, diagnosis is encumbered, they are weaker t han they were when they were healthy.

Had that same individual allowed himself or herself the benefit of early detection - they would have sought medical attention while there were predominantly in control of their body’s health. They could have attacked the ailment with their body’s full strength. More importantly, they could have enlisted the help of a skilled physician and given the doctor valuable information about their ailment.

Ultimately, it boils down to the individual’s personal decision to invest a little time and money to gain more time and health in their lives.