The definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease requires microscopic examination of brain tissue, something that cannot be performed safely in a living patient. Instead, physicians use a constellation of symptoms and patterns of progression, combined with exclusion of all other causes of dementia, to diagnosis patients with the disease. But there are many alternative causes of memory loss in the elderly that must be excluded in order to make the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Many of these have signs and symptoms that overlap, making it difficult to determine the correct diagnosis. Read more →