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What is Dementia?
Alzheimer's Disease: Other Forms of
Dementia
Dementia is the loss of mental functions -- such as
thinking, memory, and reasoning -- that is severe
enough to interfere with a person's daily
functioning. Dementia is not a disease itself, but
rather a group of symptoms that are caused by
various diseases or conditions.
Symptoms can also include changes in personality,
mood, and behavior. In some cases, the dementia can
be treated and cured because the cause is treatable.
Examples of this include dementia caused by
substance abuse (illicit drugs and alcohol),
combinations of prescription medications, and
hormone or vitamin imbalances. In some cases,
although the person may appear to have dementia, a
severe depression can be causing the symptoms. This
is known as pseudo-dementia (false dementia) and is
highly treatable. In most cases, however, a true
dementia cannot be cured.
Dementia develops when the parts of the brain that
are involved with learning, memory, decision-making,
and language are affected by one or more of a
variety of infections or diseases. The most common
cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, but there
are as many as 50 other known causes. Most of these
causes are very rare.
Because some causes of dementia can be cured or
partially treated, it is very important that your
doctor is thorough when making the diagnosis, so as
not to miss potentially treatable conditions. The
frequency of "treatable" causes of dementia is
believed to be about 10%.
What Causes Dementia?
There are several things which could cause dementia:
-
Diseases that cause degeneration or loss of
nerve cells in the brain such as Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's and Huntington's.
-
Diseases that affect blood vessels, such as
stroke, which can cause a disorder known as
multi-infarct dementia.
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Toxic reactions, like excessive alcohol or drug
use.
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Nutritional deficiencies, like vitamin B12 and
folate deficiency.
-
Infections that affect the brain and spinal
cord, such as AIDS dementia complex and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
-
Certain types of hydrocephalus, an accumulation
of fluid in the brain that can result from
developmental abnormalities, infections, injury,
or brain tumors.
-
Head injury -- either a single severe head
injury or longer term smaller injuries, like in
boxers.
-
Illness other than in the brain -- kidney,
liver, and lung diseases can all lead to
dementia.
Alzheimer's disease causes 50-60% of all dementias.
But researchers have found that two nervous
diseases, which were originally incorrectly
diagnosed as Alzheimer's, are emerging as major
causes of dementia: Lewy body disease and Pick's
disease.
How Common Is Dementia?
Diseases that affect blood vessels, such as stroke,
which can cause a disorder known as multi-infarct
dementia.
Dementia caused by nervous system disease,
especially Alzheimer's disease, is increasing in
frequency more than most other types of dementia.
Some researchers suspect that as many as half of all
people over 80 years old develop Alzheimer's
disease. Also, the increased incidence of AIDS
dementia complex, which results from HIV infection,
helps account for the increased dementia in recent
history, although with the invention of newer and
better drugs to treat HIV, the occurrence of
AIDS-associated dementia is declining.
Who Gets Dementia?
Dementia is considered a late-life disease because
it tends to develop mostly in elderly people. About
5-8% of all people over the age of 65 have some form
of dementia, and this number doubles every five
years above that age. It is estimated that as many
as half of people in their 80s suffer from dementia.
Which Dementias Are Treatable?
Dementia due to long-term substance abuse.
Tumors that can be removed.
Subdural hematoma, accumulation of blood beneath the
outer covering of the brain that result from a
broken blood vessel, usually as a result of a head
injury.
Normal-pressure hydrocephalus.
Metabolic disorders, such as a vitamin B12
deficiency.
Hypothyroidism, a condition that results from an
under-active thyroid.
Hypoglycemia, a condition that results from low
blood sugar.
What
Are Some of the Non-treatable Causes of Dementia?
Alzheimer's disease.
Multi-infarct dementia (Dementia due to multiple
small strokes).
Dementias associated with Parkinson's disease and
similar disorders.
AIDS
dementia complex.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a quickly
progressing and fatal disease that consists of
dementia and muscle twitching and spasm.
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
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Dementia develops when the parts of the
brain that are involved with learning, memory,
decision-making, and language are affected by one or
more of a variety of infections or diseases. |
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