While many tests have been studied, presently the mini mental state examination (MMSE) is the best studied and most commonly used. The MMSE is a useful tool for helping to diagnose dementia if the results are interpreted along with an assessment of a persons personality, their ability to perform activities of daily living, and their behaviour. Other cognitive tests include the abbreviated mental test score (AMTS), the, Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MS), the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI), the Trail-making test, and the clock drawing test. The MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) is a reliable screening test and is available online for free in 35 different languages. The MoCA has also been shown somewhat better at detecting mild cognitive impairment than the MMSE. The AD-8 – a screening questionnaire used to assess changes in function related to cognitive decline – is potentially useful, but is not diagnostic, is variable, and has risk of bias. An integrated cognitive assessment (CognICA) is a five-minute test that is highly sensitive to the early stages of dementia, and uses an application deliverable to an iPad. Previously in use in the UK, in 2021 CognICA was given FDA approval for its commercial use as a medical device.Another approach to screening for dementia is to ask an informant (relative or other supporter) to fill out a questionnaire about the persons everyday cognitive functioning. Informant questionnaires provide complementary information to brief cognitive tests. Probably the best known questionnaire of this sort is the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE).
The idea was based on an experience in World War I in which two soldiers presented to him with broken femurs after having lain on the ground for seven days without food and water. Baer could not figure out why neither man had a fever or signs of sepsis. He observed: "On removing the clothing from the wounded part, much was my surprise to see the wound filled with thousands and thousands of maggots, apparently those of the blow fly. The sight was very disgusting and measures were taken hurriedly to wash out these abominable looking creatures." However, he then saw that the wounds were filled with "beautiful pink granulation tissue" and were healing well.Maggot therapy was common in the United States during the 1930s. However, during the second half of the twentieth century, after the introduction of antibiotics, maggot therapy was used only as a last resort for very serious wounds. Lately maggots have been making a comeback due to the increased resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. References
External links
Myiasis, reviewed and published by WikiVet
Exotic Myiasis, University of Sydney Department of Medical Entomology
Identification key to species of myiasis-causing fly larvae, Natural History Museum (London)
Parasitic Insects, Mites and Ticks: Genera of Medical and Veterinary Importance: Botflies