Dementia

Dementia is a blanket term used to describe a group of symptoms characterized by gradual deterioration of neurological functioning affecting all areas of life, to include cognition, judgment, language, memory, problem-solving, perception, and emotions. Over time, all activities of daily living are impaired, with death as the end result.

Dementia most frequently occurs in people who are more than 70 years of age, although it can appear at any age, depending upon causation. Although there are a variety of dementia classification systems, the most commonly cited relate to the following observed symptomatology:

  1. Cortical: changes in thinking, memory, language, and social abilities
  2. Subcortical: changes in emotions, memory, movement
  3. Progressive: changes, particularly those affecting cognitive abilities, becoming worse over time
  4. Primary: changes resulting from a specific disease process, such as Alzheimer's disease
  5. Secondary: changes resulting from the impact of another disease process or due to an injury

There are a number of different types of dementia:




The progression of the neurofibrillary tangles that spread throughout the brain is shown in brown. Plaques also spread throughout the brain until the brain tissue is severely damaged and shrunken (final stage of Alzheimer's disease).





The progression of the neurofibrillary tangles that spread throughout the brain is shown in brown. Plaques also spread throughout the brain until the brain tissue is severely damaged and shrunken.
(final stage of Alzheimer's disease)

Most often, dementia has a gradual onset and has symptoms that differ among affected individuals. All affected individuals eventually are impaired in every area of cognition. Initially, dementia can appear as memory changes in which the person may be able to vividly remember events from the distant past while not able to remember recent events. Other symptoms of dementia are agnosia (an inability to recognize familiar objects), facial agnosia (the inability to recognize familiar faces), and visuiospatial impairment (the inability to locate familiar places).

See also Aging ; Alzheimer's disease ; Brain disorders ; Brain injuries .

Resources

BOOKS

Ballenger, Jesse F., et al., eds. Treating Dementia: Do We Have a Pillfor It? Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.

Fields, R. Douglas. The Other Brain: From Dementia to Schizophrenia, How New Discoveries about the Brain Are Revolutionizing Medicine and Science. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.

Power, G. Allen. Dementia beyond Drugs: Changing the Culture of Care. Baltimore: HPP/Health Professions Press, 2010.

Weiner, Myron F., and Anne M. Lipton. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric, 2009.

PERIODICAL

Mckhann, Guy M., et al. “The Diagnosis of Dementia Due to Alzheimer's Disease: Recommendations from the National Institute on Aging–Alzheimer's Association Workgroups on Diagnostic Guidelines for Alzheimer's Disease.” Alzheimer's and Dementia 7, no. 3 (May 2011): 263–69.

WEBSITES

Mayo Clinic. “Alzheimer's Disease.” http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers-disease/DS00161 (accessed September 18, 2015).

National Institutes of Health. “Dementia.” http://health.nih.gov/topic/Dementia (accessed September 18, 2015).