Dementia Tests and Diagnosis

  • Dementia
    is a broad term for a range of conditions that involve loss of mental ability and so cause problems with memory, language, behaviour and emotions. Dementia is most common in the elderly. Around five percent of people over the age of 65 are affected to some extent.  According to Alzheimer’s Disease International with increasing life expectancy, this is expected to surge to 75.6 million in 2030. Disease awareness and understanding is a huge challenge  
Submitted by PatientsEngage on 19 September 2015

What tests do you need to do to assess if a person has Dementia:

Mini mental state examination (MMSE): This is a brief 30-point questionnaire test. It takes about 10 minutes and examines functions including arithmetic, memory and orientation. 

Abbreviated mental test score (AMTS): This was introduced in 1972 to rapidly assess elderly patients for the possibility of dementia. 

Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MS)

Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI)

Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE): This is another approach to screening for dementia. A relative or caregiver of the patient fills out a questionnaire about the person's everyday cognitive functioning

Laboratory and Imaging tests

• Routine blood tests are usually performed to rule out treatable causes. These tests include vitamin B12, folic acid, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), C-reactive protein, full blood count, electrolytes, calcium, renal function and liver enzymes.

• A CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scan) is commonly performed. These may suggest normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a type of brain malfunction caused by decreased absorption of cerebrospinal fluid that causes increase in the intracranial pressure), a potentially reversible cause of dementia. It can also yield information relevant for other types of dementia, such as infarction (stroke) that would point at a vascular type of dementia

Community
Alzheimer's and Dementia
Condition
Dementia

Stories

  • During my wedding ceremony (kanyadaan), my mother walked off
    "I feel angry at times that we did not receive good guidance from the doctors whom we first approached and sometimes I redirect the anger at myself for not doing enough of reading up when so much of information is available on the Internet."    A daughter talks about her mother's dementia and the challenges they faced due to lack of awareness to Swapna Kishore, who was herself a dementia caregiver for more than a decade.    http://dementiacarenotes.in/mala-interview
  • New techniques to help identify Dementia earlier
    The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's, accounting for about two thirds of cases, but it's currently impossible to detect what form of dementia someone has while they're alive. While we are not anywhere near a cure, the ability to deal it earlier would still be useful.  http://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2014/jul/21/detecting-dementia-dignity-alzheimers
  • Stock pic with the text dementia
    Dementia
    is a broad term for a range of conditions that involve loss of mental ability and so cause problems with memory, language, behaviour and emotions. Dementia is most common in the elderly. Around five percent of people over the age of 65 are affected to some extent.  According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, in 2013, there were 44.4 million people with dementia. But with increasing life expectancy, this is expected to surge to 75.6 million in 2030. Some of the…
  • Stock pic of a daughter with her mother and the text what I learnt caring for my mother
    Mothering your mother with dementia
    Paro has been caring for her mother, 86, who has dementia, for the last six years. She is frequently found in doctor’s waiting rooms and has their numbers on speed dial. She tells us what she has learnt from the experience. • Above all else, patience • Flexibility: Every day is different and brings different challenges that require different responses. • When she hallucinates, I do not contradict her as that confuses and upsets her, leading to temper tantrums, even violence…