Dementia
Source: MedlinePlus Health Topics, U.S. National Library of Medicine
What is dementia? Dementia is a loss of mental functions that is severe enough to affect your daily life and activities. These functions include: Memory Language skills Visual perception (your ability to make sense of what you see) Problem solving Trouble with everyday tasks The ability to focus and pay attention It is normal to become a bit more forgetful as you age. But dementia is not a normal part of aging. It is a serious disorder that interferes with your daily life. What are the types of dementia? The most common types of dementia are known as neurodegenerative disorders. These are diseases in which the cells of the brain stop working or die. They include: Alzheimer's disease , which is the most common form of dementia among older people. People with Alzheimer's have plaques and tangles in their brain. These are abnormal buildups of different proteins. Beta-amyloid protein clumps up and forms plaques in between your brain cells. Tau protein builds up and forms tangles inside the nerve cells of your brain. There is also a loss of connection between nerve cells in the brain. Lewy body dementia , which causes movement symptoms along with dementia. Lewy bodies are abnormal deposits of a protein in the brain. Frontotemporal disorders, which cause changes to certain parts of the brain: Changes in the frontal lobe lead to behavioral symptoms Changes in the temporal lobe lead to language and emotional disorders Vascular dementia, which involves changes to the brain's blood supply. It is often caused by a stroke or atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in the brain. Mixed dementia, which is a combination of two or more types of dementia. For example, some people have both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Other conditions can cause dementia or dementia-like symptoms, including: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease , a rare brain disorder Huntington's disease , an inherited, progressive brain disease Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), caused by repeated trauma