Dementia Diagnosis

Diagnosis

There is a pressing need to increase the number of people that are diagnosed with dementia. Just as important, however, is marking that people are diagnosed early. This is because dementia is a progressive disease, and an early diagnosis allows doctors to treat symptoms before they progress which also makes creating patient care plans more simple and effective.

However, diagnosing dementia at an early stage is difficult. This is because dementia is a complex disease, which you cannot pinpoint with a single test. Brain scans, however, are one of the most effective tools that can help lead to an early diagnosis. These scans take pictures of the brain in real time. This data can then be used to detect early changes in brain function and what parts of the brain these changes affect.

What is the SDRC doing in dementia diagnosis?

Scotland has many advantages in this type of research. We are leading the field in the use of imaging technologies run by world leading researchers. Right now, in Scotland, research studies are taking place that are actively using some of the world’s most advanced brain scanning technology.

Furthermore, Scotland has high standards of record keeping within our NHS which can be used to modernise diagnosis and create best practice across the country. Ultimately, researchers want to make sure that diagnosis is the same no matter where in Scotland someone lives.

Scottish dementia informatics platform

Fundamental science

Living well with dementia