You can throw PETs, CSF tests etc at it but I never really have a high level of confidence calling it.
Basically people lose memory and certain cognitive functions...but anything could really do it.
At the moment the hodgepodge way I fudge it is: if it is a clearly progressive syndrome year over year, with an amnestic memory syndrome (vs. poor attentional state/registration), with language/naming involvement, and evidence of visuospatial neglect/apraxias, I tell them it may "likely" be AD. Otherwise I can't say if it is AD vs. vascular dementia.
There is a paper looking at accuracy of how we call things vs. post-mortem, and it is about 50/50 eyeroll. Sad but this is the limitation of science vs. mother nature at this state in time.
Drink enough, sleep enough, eat well, do some sports, meditate. If that doesn't help, good luck with going to the doctors.
Any clinically proven benefit of meditation though? Don't throw it together with sleep and exercising...
>In 2013, researchers at Johns Hopkins identified 47 studies that qualify as well-designed and therefore reliable. Based on these studies, they concluded that there is moderate evidence that meditation reduces anxiety, depression, and pain, but there is no evidence that meditation is more effective than active treatment. [1]
I see "may" for some things, and "uncertain" for others. Nothing on that page says that it's been "thoroughly proven to be beneficial".
(mindfulness being a form of meditation)
"This study is limited by the lack of a control group or active comparison clinical intervention that would provide a basis for making a stronger inference about how MBSR might modify the behavioral and neural bases of different types of emotion regulation."
So while MBSR may help some people, this tested one specific method and did not include a control group or test against any other treatment methods.
Now, I'm not suggesting that meditation - MBSR or other - can't be helpful for some people (possibly even the majority of people under certain conditions), but it certainly has not been studied enough to show clear benefits compared to other treatment methods.
Actually, if you read recent studies (go through Pubmed), you'll find that it should in fact be lumped with sleep and exercise.