How to Diagnose Alzheimer Disease with CAT Scan

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, a cognitive disorder. Alzheimer's disease is an incurable, terminal disease whose scientists have still not fully fathomed. Alzheimer's requires a clinical diagnosis, meaning there is no simple examination or test to diagnose it. Instead, the doctor must use a combination of diagnostic tests to rule out other possible conditions, and study the signs and symptoms that have presented themselves. A computed tomography scan (shorted to CAT scan or CT scan) allows the doctor to examine brain function non-invasively, and can help to diagnose Alzheimer's disease.

Instructions

• 1

  Recognize the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. These can include memory loss, difficult performing simple tasks or language problems. Someone who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease may misplace things frequently or have decision-making problems. Sudden changes in mood, disposition or personality can all be indicators that something is wrong.

• 2

  Contact your health care provider and explain the symptoms the patient has been experiencing. He will likely want to have a CAT scan done to rule out any neurological causes.

• 3

  Follow your health care provider's instructions prior to the CAT scan. She will advise the patient to avoid foods and liquids for several hours before the scan. Just before the CAT scan, the patient will be injected with an iodine-based solution. This will make the images on the scan show up more clearly.

• 4

  During the CAT scan, the patient will be asked to lie down on a table. The table will then move the until the patient is positioned inside a large, donut-shaped machine. The machine then takes three-dimensional X-ray pictures of the patient's body, specifically the head.

• 5

  The doctor will review the images that were taken by the CAT scan machine for signs of Alzheimer's disease. In some cases, brain deterioration will be obvious just from looking at the scans. However, this clear-cut evidence appears only in the advanced stages of the disease, and finding no signs of brain deterioration does not necessary rule out Alzheimer's disease. The doctor will also check the patient for signs of neurological disease or other conditions that could be causing the symptoms of Alzheimer's.