Dementia diagnosis tests 'are inefficient'

Current tests used to diagnose dementia are not effective enough, according to a leading charity dedicated to research into the disease.

The Alzheimer's Research Trust (ART) believes existing diagnosis methods are limited, and need to be improved to ensure that more people are correctly diagnosed with dementia early in the disease's development.

Professor Barbara Sahakian of the University of Cambridge this week highlighted the deficiencies of the test to the Daily Telegraph.

She said that intelligent, educated people may miss out on early dementia treatment as the do well on the tests, while others are wrongly diagnosed and given treatments they do not need.

Reacting to the claims, the ART's head of research Dr Simon Ridley said: "We are aware of the limitations of current diagnosis methods, including the mini mental state examination.

"We are pushing for these to be improved and are currently funding research projects to reach that goal."

Read more about Barchester's dementia care homes.