Diagnosis

When you go to the doctor with memory concerns or symptoms of dementia, the doctor will:

• Ask about your symptoms and how they are affecting you.
• Ask a relative or close friend if they have noticed any changes.
• Check your medical history.
• Give you a physical check-up, checking your blood pressure and balance.
• Run a blood test, to rule out some possible causes like vitamin deficiencies and thyroid disorders. They may also ask you for a urine sample.
• Ask you to do some memory and thinking tests.

If your doctor suspects dementia, you may be referred to a memory clinic or another specialist doctor. Here may have another physical check-up and complete some more some memory and thinking tests.

You may also be sent for other tests like a brain scan. Brain scans such as CT (computerised tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) may be used to give a diagnosis of vascular dementia. The scans show the doctors changes in blood vessels or signs of a stroke/s.

Together the results of all of these tests will help the doctor to identify the likely cause of the symptoms.