Dementia is a symptom or a set of symptoms. It is not an actual disease, but a term used to describe a group of brain disorders that cause a loss in intellectual abilities, such as memory, language, visuospatial skills, calculation, abstract reasoning, judgment, and behavior. Though dementia generally involves memory loss, memory loss has different causes. So memory loss alone doesn’t mean you have dementia.

The changes are persistent and significant enough to interfere with daily life. While dementia is more common with advanced age, it is not a normal part of aging.

Since dementia refers to a group of symptoms that accompany several diseases and conditions, it is very important to have a complete evaluation from your physician to determine the cause of the symptoms.

There are several reversible or treatable causes of dementia. Some include:

• Infections
• Medication side effects
• Vitamin deficiency
• Depression
• Severe hypothyroidism

There are different causes for the symptoms of dementia that are non-reversible. The most common causes of these dementias are:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Vascular dementia
• Mixed Dementia
• Frontal temporal lobe degeneration
• Parkinson’s disease (does not always result in dementia)
• Lewy body dementia
• Traumatic brain injury
• Huntington’s disease
• Chronic alcohol or drug use (can be reversible, often is persistent)

Often, the words dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are used interchangeably in conversation. The difference between the two is that dementia is a symptom, and Alzheimer’s disease is a disease. Alzheimer’s disease causes a person to exhibit symptoms of dementia. We are all touched by dementia in some way. We all have a friend, family member, neighbor, or colleague who is either living with the disease or helping care for someone who has the disease.