Health and Social Care
What is dementia?
If you, or a friend or relative, have been diagnosed with dementia, you may be feeling anxious or confused. You may not know what dementia is. This factsheet should help answer some of your questions.
The term 'dementia' is used to describe the symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by specific diseases and conditions. These include Alzheimer's disease and sometimes as a result of a stroke.
Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse. How fast dementia progresses will depend on the individual. Each person is unique and will experience dementia in their own way.
Symptoms of dementia include: • Loss of memory − for example, forgetting the way home from the shops, or being unable to remember names and places, or what happened earlier the same day • Mood changes − particularly as parts of the brain that control emotion are affected by disease. People with dementia may also feel sad, frightened or angry about what is happening to them • Communication problems − a decline in the ability to talk, read and write.
In the later stages of dementia, the person affected will have problems carrying out everyday tasks, and will become increasingly dependent on other people.
What causes dementia?
There are several diseases and conditions that cause dementia. These include: • Alzheimer's disease − the most common cause of dementia. During the course of the disease the chemistry and structure of the brain changes, leading to the death of brain cells • Vascular disease − the brain relies on a network of vessels to bring it oxygen-bearing blood. If the oxygen supply to the brain fails, brain cells are likely to die and this can cause the symptoms of vascular dementia. These symptoms can occur either suddenly, following a stroke, or over time through a series of small strokes • Dementia with Lewy bodies − this form of dementia gets its name from tiny spherical structures that develop
If you, or a friend or relative, have been diagnosed with dementia, you may be feeling anxious or confused. You may not know what dementia is. This factsheet should help answer some of your questions.
The term 'dementia' is used to describe the symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by specific diseases and conditions. These include Alzheimer's disease and sometimes as a result of a stroke.
Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse. How fast dementia progresses will depend on the individual. Each person is unique and will experience dementia in their own way.
Symptoms of dementia include: • Loss of memory − for example, forgetting the way home from the shops, or being unable to remember names and places, or what happened earlier the same day • Mood changes − particularly as parts of the brain that control emotion are affected by disease. People with dementia may also feel sad, frightened or angry about what is happening to them • Communication problems − a decline in the ability to talk, read and write.
In the later stages of dementia, the person affected will have problems carrying out everyday tasks, and will become increasingly dependent on other people.
What causes dementia?
There are several diseases and conditions that cause dementia. These include: • Alzheimer's disease − the most common cause of dementia. During the course of the disease the chemistry and structure of the brain changes, leading to the death of brain cells • Vascular disease − the brain relies on a network of vessels to bring it oxygen-bearing blood. If the oxygen supply to the brain fails, brain cells are likely to die and this can cause the symptoms of vascular dementia. These symptoms can occur either suddenly, following a stroke, or over time through a series of small strokes • Dementia with Lewy bodies − this form of dementia gets its name from tiny spherical structures that develop