Alzheimers Diagnostic Tools

There are many different Alzheimer's diagnostic tools used by today's doctors. Unfortunately, there is no one diagnostic tool available that will make an official diagnosis of this progressive based disease of the brain, but there are many tools that doctors may use in collaboration with one another in order to confirm a diagnosis.

Medical professionals actually use a large number of tests and tools in order to ensure that they are providing an accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. In most instances, an official diagnosis may be made and is up to 90% accurate based on the tools used to evaluate patients. In this guide, you will be introduced to a couple of these diagnostic devices and tests.

Mental Status Evaluation

One of the first diagnostic tools used is the evaluation of the patient's mental status. This tool consists of many different questions that a patient has to answer. It works to evaluate the memory retention of the patient, the level of concentration, and various cognitive skills such as learning, attention span, and overall perception.

Other areas that may be evaluated include the ability to make decisions, problem solving skills, and being able to plan effectively. The evaluator tallies up the score that the patient receives during the evaluation. If it is a high score, it typically indicates that the subject that is being tested has Alzheimer's disease.

Neurological Testing

Individuals that are suspected of having Alzheimer's will be issued various neurological tests. The results of these tests will determine if the candidate has this progressive disease of the brain. The movements are often evaluated, the overall sensory functioning, and the coordination is often evaluated. Other areas that are tested include the ability to walk correctly, the reflexes, and the functions of the nervous system are also evaluated.

In many cases, neurological tests include physical observations, imaging procedures such as a MRI, CT scan and even a PET scan. There are many different Alzheimer's diagnostic tools used by today's doctors to establish a confirmation in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.