Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Aging: The Important Differences and Similarities

Dementia is a wide-ranging label that covers many different memory and brain disorders. The symptoms of dementia include:

• The ability to reason, solve problems and focus on a task at hand.
• Issues with written and verbal language.
• Recent memory loss and the inability to learn and recall information.
• Visuospatial functions or the ability to understand and use symbols. The visuospatial function also includes the capacity to figure out where things need to go or where they are.

Causes of dementia

There are many causes of dementia, including cerebrovascular disease, Lewy Body Disease, injuries, or a blow to the head. Alzheimer's disease is considered as a form of dementia, and Alzheimer's is approximately 60-80 percent of dementia cases.

Dementia is not just one disease. It is an umbrella term that refers to different conditions like vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and other memory-related disorders.   

Dementia’s characteristics are impaired intellectual functioning that interferes with everyday life. Impairment means memory loss, language difficulties, impaired reasoning, personality changes and decreased perception.