Dementia

Dementia is a syndrome, often associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, and characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform everyday... Wikipedia

• Symptoms:  Decreased ability to think and remember, emotional problems, problems with language, decreased motivation, general decline in cognitive abilities
• Complications:  Malnutrition, pneumonia, inability to perform self-care tasks, personal safety challenges, fractures from falls.
• Usual onset:  Varies, usually gradual
• Duration:  Varies, usually long term
• Causes:  Neurodegeneration, vascular disease, stroke, traumatic brain injuries
• Risk factors:  Several across the life course (e.g. less education, hearing loss, vision loss, physical inactivity, obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, social isolation, air pollution, traumatic brain injury, depression)
• Diagnostic method:  Clinical assessment, cognitive testing (mini–mental state examination), and imaging
• Differential diagnosis:  Delirium, depression, hypothyroidism
• Prevention:  Addressing risk factors throughout the life course, e.g. preventing, reducing or treating hearing and vision loss, depression, head injury and vascular risk factors (e.g. cholesterol, diabetes), decreasing smoking, and maintaining physical activity and cognitive stimulation
• Treatment:  Varies but supportive care is given
• Medication:  Varies depending on the type and stage, most medications have a small benefit
• Prognosis:  Varies, dementia is a life limiting condition and life expectancy is usually shortened
• Data source:  DuckDuckGo