There is no one diagnostic test that can detect if a person has Alzheimer’s disease. The process involves several kinds of tests and may take more than one day. Diagnostic tools and criteria make it possible for physicians to make a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s with an accuracy of about 90 percent.

The diagnostic process will involve a primary care physician and possibly other specialists. Evaluations may include the following steps:

• a medical history, which collects information about current mental or physical conditions, prescription and nonprescription drug use, and family health history
  
  
• a mental status evaluation to assess sense of time and place; ability to remember, understand, and communicate; and ability to do simple math problems
  
  
• a series of evaluations that test memory, reasoning, vision-motor coordination, and language skills
  
  
• a physical examination, which includes the evaluation of the person's nutritional status, blood pressure, and pulse
  
  
• an examination that tests sensation, balance, and other functions of the nervous system
  
  
• a brain scan to detect other causes of dementia such as stroke
  
  
• laboratory tests, such as blood and urine tests, to provide additional information about problems other than Alzheimer’s that may be causing dementia
  
  
• a psychiatric evaluation, which provides an assessment of mood and other emotional factors that could cause dementia-like symptoms or may accompany Alzheimer’s disease