{"id":148002,"date":"2018-01-22T02:49:06","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T07:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=148002"},"modified":"2018-01-22T02:49:06","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T07:49:06","slug":"meet-the-canadian-immigrant-doctor-whose-test-was-used-on-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/01\/22\/meet-the-canadian-immigrant-doctor-whose-test-was-used-on-donald-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Canadian immigrant doctor whose test was used on Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Canadian<\/a>
Canadian doctor Ziad Nasreddine\u2019s phone has been ringing off the hook since it emerged this week that a test he pioneered was used to screen U.S. President Donald Trump for cognitive issues. (Photo<\/a>: CIC News<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canadian doctor Ziad Nasreddine\u2019s phone has been ringing off the hook since it emerged this week that a test he pioneered was used to screen U.S. President Donald Trump for cognitive issues.<\/p>\n

Much of the coverage has focused on the irony that a test devised by an immigrant was used to screen Trump, whose administration has portrayed immigration as a threat to American jobs and the country\u2019s national security.<\/p>\n

Nasreddine, however, says he\u2019s honoured that the White House medical staff used his Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, which he devised at his memory clinic in Montreal back in 1996.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really been exciting to see that the interest is so huge,\u201d he told\u00a0CIC News<\/em>. \u201cIt gives MoCA another level of credibility and more recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Refuge from civil war<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nasreddine came to Montreal from Lebanon in 1983 for what was supposed to be a summer-long visit with uncles there. When it came time return for the new school year in Lebanon, a flare-up in the civil war there closed the airport in Beirut, forcing Nasreddine and his family to stay put in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came only with our summer clothes and didn\u2019t expect to stay for the winter and the years after,\u201d he told CIC News. \u201cAfter one year of extending our visit, we decided to apply for immigration and we became Canadian citizens in 1989.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nasreddine was eventually admitted into medical school at the Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, located 150 kilometres east of Montreal, where he says he quickly took an interest in the human brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found neurology interesting because the brain is so complex and I was interested in learning how the brain functions \u2014 how we think and how we memorize,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s involved in so many levels of our daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n

After completing his medical degree, Nasreddine undertook further studies in cognition at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) before returning to Montreal, where he established his memory clinic in 1996.<\/p>\n

Montreal Cognitive Assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was there that Nasreddine devised the test for signs of Alzheimer\u2019s disease and 20 other conditions that would put him, and Montreal, on the cognitive science map.<\/p>\n

He says the test was really a product of that mother of all inventions \u2013 necessity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I arrived, I had no help at the clinic, so I had to do all the memory testing myself,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was no short test, so it was either a few hours of testing or two short tests that were not sensitive enough to pick up early memory impairment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Limited to only assessing only two or three patients a day as a result, Nasreddine resolved to create a test that was both quick and sensitive enough to detect even mild impairment in memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this new tool, I could see 10 to 15 patients a day,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd because it was so much more sensitive compared to the other tests, there was huge improvement in terms of picking up subtle cognitive impairment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other elements, the test assigns patients simple tasks like drawing a clock and a three dimensional cube and asks them to identify certain animals.<\/p>\n

President Trump is said to have scored a perfect 30 out of 30.<\/p>\n

International recognition for test \u2013 and immigrants<\/strong><\/p>\n

MoCA gained international prominence in 2005, when it was first published and validated through multiple international studies.<\/p>\n

Nasreddine says 6,000 studies now cite the test and there at least 500 studies on the test itself that show its superiority in terms of detecting cognitive impairment connected specifically to Alheimer\u2019s disease and 20 other medical conditions, such as Parkinson\u2019s Disease, vascular dementia and cognitive impairment connected to Multiple Sclerosis.<\/p>\n

As to mental health concerns MoCA doesn\u2019t screen for, Nasreddine said it\u2019s not intended to detect psychiatric problems like schizophrenia or issues related to judgment.<\/p>\n

As professionally satisfying as the newfound international prominence of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment is for Nasreddine, he says it\u2019s also a good reminder of the positive impact immigrants have on the societies that accept them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen immigrants come here they really want to do the best they can and prove to the society that welcomed them that they can be a positive element to the society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the contribution that immigrants are making.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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