Everything you need to know about
Diagnosing Alzheimer's
by
Why misdiagnoses happen
How Alzheimer's is diagnosed
The difficulty of a diagnosis
patients are misdiagnosed
1 in 5
Dementia, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lewy Body, FTD and more, are difficult to correctly diagnose. Different diagnostic methods have different strengths and weaknesses, are used for different purposes, which makes it important to understand how dementias are diagnosed. This is important because early diagnosis opens up a world of options when it comes to better care, and even access to treatments that could slow the course of the disease.
Return
Next
Why is an Alzheimer's diagnosis so hard to get right?
“When doctors diagnose Alzheimer's disease without a confirmatory test, they are wrong about 30 percent of the time."– Sharon Cohen, Director of the Toronto Memory Program
Overlapping symptoms
Expensive procedures
Lack of specialized training
Read more
Return
Next
The pain of being misdiagnosed
Painter, avid cook, and patient advocate Michael Belleville was told he had Alzheimer's, only to discover several years later he had Lewy body dementia.
Patient Perspective
"Every single one of [the tests] all came back and said probable neurological disorder, probable Alzheimer’s. They are never going to come right out and tell you with 100 percent certainty that it’s Alzheimer’s.… ...they thought it was depression, so you go through that procedure for six months or longer, and then [they thought] it was something else and that takes longer. The time it went from me being diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s to Lewy Body was about two or two and a half years."
Michael BellevillePatient Advocate
Read more
Return
Next
Read more
Read more
Real-life stories of misdiagnosis
For many, getting an accurate diagnosis takes months or years. Read about patients and families who pushed for answers:
Myra Garcia
Misdiagnosed with ADD
Terrie Montgomery
A long road to diagnosis
Return
Next
Read more
Read more
Cognitive screening for Alzheimer's
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a common screening tool used to evaluate short-term memory, executive function, attention,and more.
However, this test is not meant for self-diagnosis and it is important to conduct it with a healthcare professional - research found education level, hearing loss, and language proficiency can all affect test results.
Read more
Return
Next
Early signs and symptoms
When Doreen Monks first started showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, she had already been working as a neurology nurse practitioner for 35 years. She shared with Being Patient what it felt like when her signs of Alzheimer’s first started to present.
Patient Perspective
“I had no clue. Now, retrospectively, it was very clear. [In] the years when I was taking on more and more administrative work — and quite frankly, I hate paperwork — it became harder and harder and harder for me to do it. I kept thinking, ‘What is wrong with you? This is not rocket science.’ I mean, I was just having a hard time grasping it.”
Doreen MonksNeurology Nurse Practitioner
Read more
Return
Next
Read more
Read more
Signs of mild cognitive impairment
Struggling with familiar tasks
Repeated questions
Disorientation
“Changes like that together with a low score on a cognitive test; that’s the key to making a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment.” – Dr. Barak Gaster, Director of Cognition in Primary Care program
Read more
Return
Next
Six ways doctors diagnose Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. Because screening tests (like MoCA) may not be conclusive, additional methods exist to confirm a diagnosis:
Well-established
Lumbar Puncture
Brain Scans
Emerging
Blood Tests
AI Tools
In development
Retinal Scans
Skin Tests
Return
Next
"Don’t let doctors dismiss your complaints"
Neurologist Marwan Sabbagh discusses what patients should do if they think they may be experiencing symptoms of cognitive decline.
Neurologist Perspective
"Primary care physicians don’t feel comfortable making a diagnosis... The patient should be asking about the new blood tests, the new scans, the new technologies; they should not be letting doctors dismiss their complaints."
Dr. Marwan SabbaghProfessor and the Vice Chair of Research, Barrow Neurological Institute
Read more
Return
Next
What happens after a diagnosis
If you were diagnosed with Alzheimer's and are unsure how to proceed. Here’s what to do next:
- Research more about living with dementia and what it means for the future
- Seek a specialist (neurologist, geriatrician, or neuropsychologist)
- Explore treatment options and lifestyle interventions
- Involve family and create a care plan
- Organize legal and financial documents early
- Consider participating in research
Read more
Return
Next
Explore more about a dementia diagnosis
Return
Next
Want To Keep Learning?
Visit
beingpatient.com
for the latest news and information on brain health and Alzheimer's disease
Return
Skin tests promise to differentiate Alzheimer’s from other dementias with high accuracy, reinforcing the diagnosis.
Read more
Lumbar puncture extracts cerebrospinal fluid to identify biomarkers like beta-amyloid and tau proteins.
The FDA recently approved the first blood test to detect Alzheimer’s, opening the door to Medicaid coverage. Blood tests detect amyloid or tau protein and are becoming more widely available. But cost and insurance coverage vary. New practice guidelines from the Alzheimer’s Association only recommend using blood tests in individuals who already have been diagnosed with cognitive impairment.
Some physicians may be reluctant to diagnose dementia due to the absence of a clear-cut test and the difficulty in communicating a diagnosis that has no cure.
AI technologies help analyze data from various sources, such as blood samples, speech patterns, and genetic profiles to enable early detection.
Read more
CT and MRI scans look for abnormalities, while PET scans can detect beta-amyloid plaque.
Read more
Brain health issues — especially neurodegenerative diseases — are complicated, and many of them have overlapping symptoms.
Confirmatory tests like PET amyloid scans and spinal taps, are expensive. Until recently, these scans were not covered by Medicare, making them inaccessible to many.
Dementia
Normal
Image soruce: JoVE Journal
Retinal scans look for changes in the retina that may reveal abnormalities within the brain.
Read more
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Transcript
Everything you need to know about
Diagnosing Alzheimer's
by
Why misdiagnoses happen
How Alzheimer's is diagnosed
The difficulty of a diagnosis
patients are misdiagnosed
1 in 5
Dementia, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lewy Body, FTD and more, are difficult to correctly diagnose. Different diagnostic methods have different strengths and weaknesses, are used for different purposes, which makes it important to understand how dementias are diagnosed. This is important because early diagnosis opens up a world of options when it comes to better care, and even access to treatments that could slow the course of the disease.
Return
Next
Why is an Alzheimer's diagnosis so hard to get right?
“When doctors diagnose Alzheimer's disease without a confirmatory test, they are wrong about 30 percent of the time."– Sharon Cohen, Director of the Toronto Memory Program
Overlapping symptoms
Expensive procedures
Lack of specialized training
Read more
Return
Next
The pain of being misdiagnosed
Painter, avid cook, and patient advocate Michael Belleville was told he had Alzheimer's, only to discover several years later he had Lewy body dementia.
Patient Perspective
"Every single one of [the tests] all came back and said probable neurological disorder, probable Alzheimer’s. They are never going to come right out and tell you with 100 percent certainty that it’s Alzheimer’s.… ...they thought it was depression, so you go through that procedure for six months or longer, and then [they thought] it was something else and that takes longer. The time it went from me being diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s to Lewy Body was about two or two and a half years."
Michael BellevillePatient Advocate
Read more
Return
Next
Read more
Read more
Real-life stories of misdiagnosis
For many, getting an accurate diagnosis takes months or years. Read about patients and families who pushed for answers:
Myra Garcia
Misdiagnosed with ADD
Terrie Montgomery
A long road to diagnosis
Return
Next
Read more
Read more
Cognitive screening for Alzheimer's
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a common screening tool used to evaluate short-term memory, executive function, attention,and more.
However, this test is not meant for self-diagnosis and it is important to conduct it with a healthcare professional - research found education level, hearing loss, and language proficiency can all affect test results.
Read more
Return
Next
Early signs and symptoms
When Doreen Monks first started showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, she had already been working as a neurology nurse practitioner for 35 years. She shared with Being Patient what it felt like when her signs of Alzheimer’s first started to present.
Patient Perspective
“I had no clue. Now, retrospectively, it was very clear. [In] the years when I was taking on more and more administrative work — and quite frankly, I hate paperwork — it became harder and harder and harder for me to do it. I kept thinking, ‘What is wrong with you? This is not rocket science.’ I mean, I was just having a hard time grasping it.”
Doreen MonksNeurology Nurse Practitioner
Read more
Return
Next
Read more
Read more
Signs of mild cognitive impairment
Struggling with familiar tasks
Repeated questions
Disorientation
“Changes like that together with a low score on a cognitive test; that’s the key to making a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment.” – Dr. Barak Gaster, Director of Cognition in Primary Care program
Read more
Return
Next
Six ways doctors diagnose Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. Because screening tests (like MoCA) may not be conclusive, additional methods exist to confirm a diagnosis:
Well-established
Lumbar Puncture
Brain Scans
Emerging
Blood Tests
AI Tools
In development
Retinal Scans
Skin Tests
Return
Next
"Don’t let doctors dismiss your complaints"
Neurologist Marwan Sabbagh discusses what patients should do if they think they may be experiencing symptoms of cognitive decline.
Neurologist Perspective
"Primary care physicians don’t feel comfortable making a diagnosis... The patient should be asking about the new blood tests, the new scans, the new technologies; they should not be letting doctors dismiss their complaints."
Dr. Marwan SabbaghProfessor and the Vice Chair of Research, Barrow Neurological Institute
Read more
Return
Next
What happens after a diagnosis
If you were diagnosed with Alzheimer's and are unsure how to proceed. Here’s what to do next:
Read more
Return
Next
Explore more about a dementia diagnosis
Return
Next
Want To Keep Learning?
Visit
beingpatient.com
for the latest news and information on brain health and Alzheimer's disease
Return
Skin tests promise to differentiate Alzheimer’s from other dementias with high accuracy, reinforcing the diagnosis.
Read more
Lumbar puncture extracts cerebrospinal fluid to identify biomarkers like beta-amyloid and tau proteins.
The FDA recently approved the first blood test to detect Alzheimer’s, opening the door to Medicaid coverage. Blood tests detect amyloid or tau protein and are becoming more widely available. But cost and insurance coverage vary. New practice guidelines from the Alzheimer’s Association only recommend using blood tests in individuals who already have been diagnosed with cognitive impairment.
Some physicians may be reluctant to diagnose dementia due to the absence of a clear-cut test and the difficulty in communicating a diagnosis that has no cure.
AI technologies help analyze data from various sources, such as blood samples, speech patterns, and genetic profiles to enable early detection.
Read more
CT and MRI scans look for abnormalities, while PET scans can detect beta-amyloid plaque.
Read more
Brain health issues — especially neurodegenerative diseases — are complicated, and many of them have overlapping symptoms.
Confirmatory tests like PET amyloid scans and spinal taps, are expensive. Until recently, these scans were not covered by Medicare, making them inaccessible to many.
Dementia
Normal
Image soruce: JoVE Journal
Retinal scans look for changes in the retina that may reveal abnormalities within the brain.
Read more