Dementia

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Dementia isn’t a specific disease. Instead, dementia describes a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning.

Though dementia generally involves memory loss, memory loss has different causes. So memory loss alone doesn’t mean you have dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of a progressive dementia in older adults, but there are a number of causes of dementia. Depending on the cause, some dementia symptoms can be reversed.

Dementia care at Mayo Clinic

Dementia symptoms vary depending on the cause, but common signs and symptoms include:

See a doctor if you or a loved one has memory problems or other dementia symptoms. Some treatable medical conditions can cause dementia symptoms, so it’s important to determine the underlying cause.

Dementia involves damage of nerve cells in the brain, which can occur in several areas of the brain. Dementia affects people differently, depending on the area of the brain affected.

Dementias are often grouped by what they have in common, such as the part of the brain that’s affected or whether they worsen over time (progressive dementias). Some dementias, such as those caused by a reaction to medications or vitamin deficiencies, might improve with treatment.

Types of dementias that progress and aren’t reversible include:

Alzheimer’s disease. In people age 65 and older, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.

Although the cause of Alzheimer’s disease isn’t known, plaques and tangles are often found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Plaques are clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid, and tangles are fibrous tangles made up of tau protein.

Certain genetic factors might make it more likely that people will develop Alzheimer’s.

Frontotemporal dementia. This is a group of diseases characterized by the breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, the areas generally associated with personality, behavior and language.

As with other dementias, the cause isn’t known.

Traumatic brain injury. This condition is caused by repetitive head trauma, such as experienced by boxers, football players or soldiers.

Depending on the part of the brain that’s injured, this condition can cause dementia signs and symptoms, such as depression, explosiveness, memory loss, uncoordinated movement and impaired speech, as well as slow movement, tremors and rigidity (parkinsonism). Symptoms might not appear until years after the trauma.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This rare brain disorder usually occurs in people without known risk factors. This condition might be due to an abnormal form of a protein. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can be inherited or caused by exposure to diseased brain or nervous system tissue.

Signs and symptoms of this fatal condition usually appear around age 60.

Some causes of dementia or dementia-like symptoms can be reversed with treatment. They include:

Many factors can eventually lead to dementia. Some factors, such as age, can’t be changed. Others can be addressed to reduce your risk.

You might be able to control the following risk factors of dementia.

Dementia can affect many body systems and, therefore, the ability to function. Dementia can lead to:

There’s no sure way to prevent dementia, but there are steps you can take that might help. More research is needed, but it might be beneficial to do the following:

Get enough vitamin D. Research suggests that people with low levels of vitamin D in their blood are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. You can get vitamin D through certain foods, supplements and sun exposure.

More study is needed before an increase in vitamin D intake is recommended for preventing dementia, but it’s a good idea to make sure you get adequate vitamin D.

Dementia care at Mayo Clinic

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Dementia

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