Making the Diagnosis of Dementia

If you experience the following problems over the course of several months, you should see your family physician:

• failing memory
• problems with language, attention, thinking, sense of direction or other cognitive problems,
• behavioral changes.

The doctor can normally assess whether there are signs of the disease through an interview and physical examination. There may be a need for several investigations to determine what disease it is, including whether it may be dementia. The doctor should, among other things, assess whether the symptoms may be due to other causes such as depression, medication side-effects or perhaps excessive alcohol consumption.

The diagnosis of dementia is a so-called clinical diagnosis. That means that the doctor makes the diagnosis based on their interview with and examination of the patient. In some cases, making the "dementia" diagnosis is very straightforward. However, sometimes it is difficult and it may be necessary to perform neuropsychological tests. The diagnosis of dementia cannot be made solely on the basis of a blood test or a brain scan.