What is Dementia?
http://health.yahoo.net/health/dementia
Written by Wendy Leonard, MPH
Reviewed by Jennifer Monti, MPH, MD
Dementia is a broad term referring to a decline in cognitive function (such as a loss of thinking, remembering, and reasoning skills)—to the extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Not a disease itself, the term dementia is intended to describe the spectrum of severity, ranging from the mildest to the most severe stages—regardless of the cause.
What Causes Dementia?
The most common causes are Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. However, there are many causes of dementia. Some forms are due to degeneration of neurons, while others are due to disturbances in other body systems that result in neuronal dysfunction.
Neurodegenerative means that neurons (which are brain cells) gradually degenerate (cease to function or function inappropriately, and, eventually die). This death of brain cells impairs the neuron-to-neuron connections, called synapses—which is where and how messages are passed along in your brain). This “disconnect” can results in a range of dysfunction.
While not an exhaustive list, here are some of the more common causes of dementia:
Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease with dementia
- vascular dementia
- frontotemporal lobar degeneration, including
- frontotemporal dementia
- Pick’s disease
- supranuclear palsy
- corticobasal degeneration
- medication side effects
- depression
- vitamin B12 deficiency
- chronic alcoholism
- certain tumors or infections of the brain
- blood clots pressing on the brain
- metabolic imbalances, including thyroid, kidney and liver disorders
Other Causes of Dementia
True dementia is irreversible. However, some problems have dementia-like symptoms, such as various metabolic disturbances, which can be reversible with appropriate and timely treatment—and without suffering permanent damage. This is one of the many reasons why seeing your doctor and getting a medical workup as soon as symptoms develop is so very important.
Isn’t Forgetfulness a Normal Part of Aging?
It’s absolutely normal to forget things once in a while. And, experiencing memory loss by itself does not mean an individual has dementia. However, there is a difference between occasional forgetfulness, and the kind of “forgetting” that may be cause for serious concern.
Forgetting who someone is; forgetting how to do common tasks (such as how to use the telephone or find your way home); or being unable to comprehend and/or retain information that has been clearly provided.
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