It’s become clear that AI has a host of uses in medicine, especially in the diagnosis and detection of illnesses. For example, studies have shown that AI can spot breast cancers by looking at screening scans – especially important because there’s a shortage of radiologists in the UK.

But dementia can be trickier to detect, particularly in the early stages. Can AI assist here too? It seems that the answer is yes – and that could make a huge difference for older people across the UK.

How does AI detection of early dementia work, and why does it matter? Read on to learn more about this exciting advancement in AI technology.

Why is it hard to detect dementia in the early stages?

There are plenty of reasons why diagnosing mild dementia is challenging. A few of these are…

Symptoms that could relate to other illnesses or nothing at all

Some indications of early-stage dementia include:

Forgetfulness
Mood changes such as depression
Struggles to concentrate
Poor judgement.

But these symptoms might not be caused by dementia at all. For example, some people might have been forgetful all their lives. A person with ADHD might always have had difficulties with concentration. An older person could be depressed because a loved one has died. And if a senior shows poor judgement, like falling for an online scam, it can be hard to know whether this indicates dementia or just a lack of knowledge about the internet.

These symptoms can also be caused by other conditions that aren’t dementia. Seniors can experience confusion or drowsiness due to the side effects of medications. Epilepsy and urinary tract infections in the elderly can also produce dementia-like symptoms.

For all these reasons, family members or medical professionals may not notice or recognise dementia symptoms until they become more severe and obvious.

What’s more, elderly people can have what’s called mild cognitive impairment. This involves difficulties with thinking that aren’t severe enough to be called dementia. Sometimes mild cognitive impairment turns into dementia, but sometimes it never gets worse. It can be hard for doctors to know when a person has mild cognitive impairment versus dementia – and whether mild cognitive impairment is going to turn into dementia later.

The many medical conditions that can cause dementia

When we’re talking about dementia diagnosis, it’s key to know that dementia itself isn’t an illness or sickness. It’s a symptom that can be caused by numerous different medical conditions. So, one person might have dementia because certain proteins are building up in their brain (Alzheimer’s disease), while another might have dementia because of repeated concussions or blows to the head (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).

So, when someone is being checked for dementia, doctors may not know what specific type of dementia to look for. That means there are more factors to check on during the diagnosis process. And doctors will also need to do tests to rule out other issues that can cause dementia-like symptoms.

Lack of a single test for dementia

Partly because of all the different conditions that cause dementia, there is no single test for dementia. You can’t just head to your GP and get one simple blood test or scan that will give a definitive answer.

But blood tests can be involved in a dementia diagnosis. Doctors may also perform assessments just by talking with an older person, asking them questions or asking them to do tasks like drawing a clock. Brain scans can play a role, too, in showing damage or shrinkage of the brain in certain types of dementia.

Why is early detection of dementia important?

It’s true that there is no cure for dementia. But getting that diagnosis early can still make a huge difference, for numerous reasons.

Medications

Some medications, such as donepezil, can reduce the severity of symptoms and potentially hold off the development of more severe symptoms. These medications do not work for all types of dementia, though.

Regardless of the type of dementia a person has, getting early detection is crucial because it allows the person to make decisions and prepare based on their knowledge of what’s ahead.

Legal decisions

A person with dementia can set up legal mechanisms to let someone else make medical and financial decisions for them when they are no longer able to care for themself. It’s critical to take these legal steps early, while the person with dementia has mental capacity. If a mechanism like a lasting power of attorney is not created while the person with dementia still has mental capacity, it cannot be created later, and their loved ones will face much more difficulty and expense in trying to get the right to make decisions for them.

Life decisions

Let’s say a person aged 67 with mild dementia has always wanted to go on holiday to a particular location, but they were planning to do so for their 70th birthday. A diagnosis of dementia will let them know they might need to take that trip sooner rather than later. And it will help them make other plans for the future, including how they spend their money and where they’ll live.

How does AI know whether a person has dementia?

It’s easy to see why AI’s capacities to detect early-stage dementia are so exciting. Let’s look at a few different ways in which researchers are testing the use of AI to pinpoint cases of mild dementia that might have otherwise been missed.

Eye tests

Interestingly, one promising method of AI dementia detection involves scans of the eye.

In January 2025, the BBC reported on a team who were looking at images of blood vessels in the retina, at the back of the eye, to detect signs of conditions including dementia. They fed these images to an AI that could then use an algorithm to spot indications that something was wrong.

Brain scans and cognitive tests

AI is great at recognising patterns. That’s one reason why researchers are training it to learn what results on brain scans and cognitive tests are connected to a future diagnosis of dementia.

A team at the University of Cambridge has been working on a method of AI dementia detection that can predict whether mild cognitive impairment will turn into Alzheimer’s disease later on. The scientists fed MRI scans and tests of thinking ability into the AI, and then the AI algorithm predicted whether or not the patient would end up getting Alzheimer’s disease within the next three years. Crucially, the AI turned out to be right four out of five times – which is more accurate than current diagnosis approaches.

Make a plan for the future with SureSafe

When it comes to the health and wellbeing of seniors, thinking ahead is key. Though no-one wants to get a diagnosis of dementia, knowing what’s coming in the future is crucial to allow effective planning and preparation today.

Another essential step to take is planning what an older person will do if they fall or have another emergency at home alone. Relying on mobile phones isn’t enough, since a mobile may not be nearby if a senior falls while in the shower, in the garden or while a phone is up on a countertop, out of reach.

That’s why at SureSafe we’re dedicated to providing personal alarms for the elderly. These are simple, easy-to-use devices that are worn as a pendant or on the wrist. A personal alarm’s job is to let an older person get help fast in a crisis. It does that through an SOS button that a senior just needs to press and hold in order to call for assistance. And if the older person is unconscious, there’s a backup function – automatic fall detection works to sense falls and call for help right away if a fall is detected.

A personal alarm is an important part of protecting an elderly person with dementia, too. Our alarms with GPS tracking ensure that the alarm wearer can be located if they’re in distress, if they’ve become lost or if they’ve wandered away from carers. We even offer a dementia tracker with a lockable strap to prevent it from being removed.

Would you like to know more about how a simple personal alarm can offer peace of mind to elderly people, whether they have dementia or not? Then just reach out to our expert team. We’ll be happy to chat with you about what our alarms can do. You can speak to us by calling 0808 189 1670, using our live chat or requesting a call back.