What exactly is dementia?

Dementia is a term that refers to a process of a person's mental function rather than an illness.

Dementia is defined as a substantial deterioration in brain ability from a previous level higher that interferes with everyday activities. A person with dementia has one or more of these specific problems, such as a decrease in:

• Memory.
• Reasoning.
• Language.
• Coordination.
• Mood.
• Behavior.
• When infections or illnesses impair the regions of your brain involved in learning, memory, decision-making, or language, dementia occurs. Alzheimer's disease is the most frequent cause of dementia.

However, there are additional recognized causes of dementia:

• Dementia vascular.
• Alzheimer's disease with Lewy bodies.
• Dementia frontotemporal.
• Dementia mix.
• Parkinson's illness causes dementia.
• Reversible factors, such as drug side effects as well as thyroid disorders, can create dementia-like symptoms.

What's the difference between Alzheimer's disease and dementia?

Dementia is a term that describes the state of a particular emotional function rather than an illness. Dementia is an umbrella term for mental deterioration severe enough to impede daily activities.

Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are just two of the underlying causes of dementia. The most prevalent root cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease.

What causes dementia?

Dementia is classified as a late-life disease since it affects primarily the elderly.

Dementia affects between 5% to 8% of all adults over the age of 65, and the incidence increases every five years after that. Dementia affects around half of the adults aged 85 and over.

According to race, the number of persons aged 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease and associated dementias is:

• 14 percent are black.
• Hispanics make up about 12% of the population.
• White non-Hispanics: ten percent
• Native Americans and Alaskans make up about 9% of the population.

8% are Asian and Pacific Islanders.

What is the prevalence of dementia?

Alzheimer's disease and associated dementia affect 5 million Americans aged 65 and more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC, about 14 million individuals, or 3.3 percent of the population, will have dementia by 2060.

Alzheimer's disease is the fourth greatest cause of mortality in the United States, and the fifth major cause of death among those aged 65 and over.

Are there several kinds of dementia?

Dementias are classified into three categories:

• Primary (diseases and conditions in which dementia is the main illness).
• supplementary (dementia due to another disease or condition).
• Other illnesses or conditions induce reversible dementia-like symptoms.