Patient information from BMJ

Dementia in a family member: questions to ask your doctor

Last published:Nov 16, 2023

If someone in your family has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia, you may want to ask their doctor some questions to find out more about the disease.

Here are some questions that you might want to ask.

• Why do you think my family member has dementia?

• What is causing their dementia? Is it Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia?

• Could there be another reason for the symptoms?

• Do they need to see a specialist?

• Do they need to have any tests? If so, what kind of tests?

• Will the symptoms get worse?

• How will the symptoms change over time?

• What can I expect in the future?

• Will I be able to cope with caring for my family member at home?

• Is there any help I can get?

• Will my family member need to go into a nursing home?

• If so, when will I need to arrange this?

• Will there be regular, ongoing appointments?

• What treatments can you give? How can they help?

• Do these treatments have side effects?

• Is anyone else in my family at risk of getting this type of dementia? If so, is there anything they should be doing?