Alzheimer's Disease
Frequently Asked Questions
11. How is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed?
Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease
Video length: 2 min 31 sec
Click to watch this video
Video length: 2 min 31 sec
Click to watch this video
The only definitive way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease is to find out whether plaques and tangles exist in brain tissue. To look at brain tissue, doctors perform a brain autopsy, an examination of the brain done after a person dies.
To diagnose Alzheimer's disease, doctors may
- ask questions about overall health, past medical problems, ability to carry out daily activities, and changes in behavior and personality
- conduct tests to measure memory, problem solving, attention, counting, and language skills
- carry out standard medical tests, such as blood and urine tests
- perform brain scans to look for anything in the brain that does not look normal.
