Dementia is common among the elderly and affects the normal functioning of the brain and the symptoms of dementia are similar to other neurological disorders.

The screening tools for dementia patients include physical and neurological examination and the specified laboratory tests.

Proper diagnosis requires a physician to go through his or her patient’s medical history, to gather information about the factors that could have resulted in the disease.

These factors may include a family history of neurological diseases, stroke and alcohol or drug abuse.

As per the American Psychiatric Association, a patient is diagnosed with dementia when he experiences memory loss, is unable to co-ordinate speech, is unable to perform motor activities or relate to objects and is unable to think rationally.

The screening tools for dementia patients must be able to differentiate between delirium and dementia, since both have similar symptoms. Delirium is characterized by mental disturbances, disorganized thinking and the reduced ability to remain attentive to the external environment.

Differentiating between delirium and dementia is necessary because the treatment is different for both the diseases. The screening tools for dementia patients should also be able to differentiate between actual dementia and Pseudo dementia.

In pseudo dementia, the patients start believing that they are losing their memory, even though they are perfectly normal.

The differentiation is necessary because the treatment advised for dementia patients is specific. The latter is more of a psychological problem.

Laboratory Tests

Screening tools for dementia are selected as per the medical history of the patient and are used to identify the root cause of the disease. Screening tools include laboratory tests that are used for assessing problems faced by the patient.

These may include attentiveness, perceptiveness, memory and social and language skills. This will help in determining whether the patient is suffering from dementia or from some other neurological disease, such as Alzheimer’s or Hydrocephalus.

A patient suffering from Alzheimer’s is more attentive, co-operative and gives appropriate responses whereas a Hydrocephalus patient is relatively more distracted and less co-operative.

Blood tests

Screening tools for patients may include blood tests, if the medical history of the patient indicates infectious, metabolic or toxic conditions.

Blood test results will help the physician in ruling out other neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s.

Blood tests may indicate B12 vitamin deficiency, blood glucose or hypoglycemia, anemia, drug toxicity, hypercalcemia, hypermagnamesia, hypernatremia, liver disease, lumbar puncture, hypothyroidism, syphilis and even HIV infection.

DNA samples taken from the blood are utilized for diagnosing Huntington’s disease. It is also used for revealing the ApoE4 gene that is found in the case of Alzheimer’s.

EEG, MRI scan and CT scan

The EEG or Electroencephalography measures brain activity and helps in diagnosing dementia.

Dementia patients normally have lower brain wave activity as compared to normal human beings.

CT scan and MRI scan are used for detecting structural or physical changes in the brain that might be caused due to stroke, blood clots, tumors or head injury.

All these factors can produce dementia like symptoms even if the patient is perfectly normal.

If you need to learn more about the causes of dementia or dementia symptoms click on over to Mike Herman's site http://www.Answers4Alzheimers.com.

Source: www.articlecity.com