Diagnosis

If you are concerned that you, or someone you are close to, may have dementia, the first person to consult is your GP. Your GP can perform a standard `memory test` in order to confirm a diagnosis. Diagnosis should be preceded correctly through various assessments and tests to determine the type of dementia or eliminate other treatable conditions such as depression.

Information and Guidance

Your GP should provide relevant information for the patient and people close to them. Your GP will talk through the conditions that make up dementia. Your GP will discuss a patients' medical history with them, observe and assess the patient's behavior.

Referral

Your GP should advise about access to the relevant services such as a referral to a consultant, who has a greater specialised knowledge and experience with treating dementia.

Assessment

Careful assessment is necessary because there are a number of treatable conditions with dementia-like symptoms that need to be eliminated. General Practitioners must be able to recognise relevant symptoms for a correct diagnosis of dementia. Assessment involves testing physical and mental behavior and reviewing a patient's medication use to determine if the patient is to be referred to a consultant for further assessment.

Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)

The Mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most common way to deliver an assessment of mental capabilities. This examination offers a personalised diagnosis of dementia that helps determine what medication is required for the treatment of dementia.

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is unable to produce a complete diagnosis or measure the severity of dementia but can aid in an accurate diagnosis. MMSE will test for damage to cognitive abilities, the mental processes of awareness, perception, learning, reasoning and judgement.

The MMSE questionnaire will assess communication, language, short and long-term memory, language, planning skills, the ability to understand instructions, other mental abilities.