Pick's Disease Diagnosis

How Do You Diagnose Pick's Disease?

The only way to diagnose Pick's disease for certain is through a biopsy of the brain. A biopsy involves removing a part of the brain to conduct tests on it. Obviously, a doctor would only do that after death. A doctor can ask questions and do certain tests, however, that can clarify whether someone may have the disease.^[1][3] These questions and tests include:

• Questions about medical history, symptoms, and behavior
• Tests of brain function usually controlled by the lobes affected by Pick's disease
• Lab tests to rule out metabolic causes of dementia
• An EEG (electroencephalogram) to check the electrical activity in the brain
• A CT scan and/or MRI to look for tissue loss in the brain
• Tests of the senses, thinking, reasoning and motor function
• Psychological studies
• A test of the fluid in the spinal cord