Dementia Health Article

Definition

Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases.

Alternative Names

Chronic brain syndrome; Lewy body dementia; DLB; Vascular dementia

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

The two major causes of non-reversible (degenerative) dementia are:

• Alzheimer's disease
• Loss of brain function due to a series of small strokes (vascular dementia)

The two conditions often occur together.

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a leading cause of dementia in elderly adults. People with this condition have abnormal protein structures in certain areas of the brain.

The structures and symptoms of DLB are similar to those of Alzheimer's disease, but it is not clear whether DLB is a form of Alzheimer's or a separate disease. There is no cure for DLB or Alzheimer's.

Conditions that damage blood vessels or nerve structures of the brain can also lead to dementia.

Treatable causes of dementia include:

• Brain tumors
• Dementia due to metabolic causes
• Infections
• Low vitamin B12 levels
• Normal pressure hydrocephalus
• Thyroid conditions

Dementia usually occurs in older age. It is rare in people under age 60. The risk for dementia increases as a person gets older.

Symptoms

Problems may involve language, memory, perception, emotional behavior or personality, and cognitive skills (such as calculation, abstract thinking, or judgment). Dementia usually first appears as forgetfulness.

Symptoms include:

• Changed feeling (sensation) or perception
• Changed sleep patterns
  • Change in sleep-wake cycle
  • Insomnia
  • Need for increased sleep
• Decrease in problem-solving skills and judgment
• Disorientation
  • Confused about people, places, or times
  • Unable to pick up cues from the environment
• Disorders of problem-solving or learning
  • Trouble making calculations
  • Unable to learn
  • Unable to think abstractly
  • Unable to think in general terms
• Impaired recognition (agnosia)
  • Trouble recognizing familiar objects or people
  • Trouble recognizing things through the senses
• Lack of or poor language ability (aphasia)
  • Unable to form words
  • Unable to name objects
  • Unable to read or write
  • Unable to repeat a phrase
  • Unable to speak (without muscle paralysis)
  • Unable to understand speech
  • Have impaired language skills
  • Repeat phrases
  • Speak poorly (enunciation)
  • Use slang or the wrong words
• Memory problems
  • Unable to remember new things (short-term memory problems)
  • Unable to remember the past (long-term memory problems)
• Motor system problems
  • Gait changes
  • Impaired skilled motor function (apraxia)
    • Unable to copy geometric figures
    • Unable to copy hand positions
    • Unable to dress self
  • Inappropriate movements
  • Other motor system problems
• Seeing or hearing things that aren't there (hallucinations) and having false ideas (delusions)
• Severe confusion
• Personality changes
  • Anxiety
  • Decreased ability to care for oneself
  • Decreased interest in daily living activities
  • Depression
  • Inappropriate mood or behavior
  • Irritability
  • No mood (flat affect)
  • Not flexible
  • Only concerned with self (self-centered)
  • Poor temper control
  • Unable to function or interact in social or personal situations
  • Unable to keep a job
  • Unable to make decisions
  • Withdrawal from social interaction
• Unable to be spontaneous
• Unable to concentrate

Other symptoms that may occur with dementia:

• Incontinence
• Swallowing problems