People with dementia have significantly impaired intellectual functioning that interferes with normal activities and relationships. People with dementia symptoms may:
- Lose their ability to solve problems and maintain emotional control.
- Experience personality changes and behavioral problems, such as agitation, delusions, and hallucinations.
- Experience memory loss. However, memory loss by itself does not mean that a person has dementia.
Doctors will make a dementia diagnosis only if two or more brain functions -- such as memory and language skills -- are significantly impaired without loss of consciousness.
Doctors employ a number of strategies to make a dementia diagnosis. They usually begin by asking a number of questions. This is typically followed by a physical exam and then certain tests and procedures. Tests that are helpful for diagnosing dementia include:
- Cognitive and neuropsychological tests
- Brain scans (MRI or CT scan)
- Laboratory tests
- Psychiatric evaluations
- Pre-symptomatic testing.
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