About Alzheimer's - Diagnosis

Alzheimer's Foundation of America

DIAGNOSIS

• Clinicians can now diagnose Alzheimer's disease with up to 90 percent accuracy. But it can only be confirmed by an autopsy, during which pathologists look for the disease's characteristic plaques and tangles in brain tissue.
• Clinicians diagnose "probable" Alzheimer's disease by taking a complete medical history and conducting lab tests, a physical exam, brain scans and neuropsychological tests that gauge memory, attention, language skills and problem-solving abilities.
• Proper diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is critical since there are dozens of other causes of dementia that could exhibit the same symptoms. Some of these dementias, such as those caused by vitamin deficiency, thyroid problems and depression, are reversible; of those that are irreversible, Alzheimer's disease is the most common.
• The sooner an accurate diagnosis of "probable" Alzheimer's disease is made, the easier it is to manage symptoms and plan for the future.