I’m usually requested to elucidate the distinction between Alzheimer’s Illness (AD) and Dementia. In a nutshell, dementia is a symptom, and Alzheimer’s Illness is the trigger. However the query deserves a way more thorough response, and Dr. Robert Stern, Director of Boston College’s Alzheimer’s Illness Middle’s Scientific Core (photograph, left) offered this response to the query on their web site.
(Supply: Boston College’s Alzheimers Illness Middle and their Alzheimers’ Illness Middle’s Bulletin, each of that are nice Alzheimer’s Illness assets).
“What’s the distinction between Alzheimer’s illness and dementia?
“Dementia” is a time period that has changed a extra out-of-date phrase, “senility,” to discuss with cognitive modifications with superior age. Dementia features a group of signs, probably the most distinguished of which is reminiscence problem with extra issues in not less than one different space of cognitive functioning, together with language, consideration, downside fixing, spatial expertise, judgment, planning, or group. These cognitive issues are a noticeable change in comparison with the particular person’s cognitive functioning earlier in life and are extreme sufficient to get in the way in which of regular day by day residing, reminiscent of social and occupational actions.
An excellent analogy to the time period dementia is “fever.” Fever refers to an elevated temperature, indicating that an individual is sick. But it surely doesn’t give any details about what’s inflicting the illness. In the identical means, dementia implies that there’s something unsuitable with an individual’s mind, but it surely doesn’t present any details about what’s inflicting the reminiscence or cognitive difficulties. Dementia isn’t a illness; it’s the scientific presentation or signs of a illness.
There are various potential causes of dementia. Some causes are reversible, reminiscent of sure thyroid situations or vitamin deficiencies. If these underlying issues are recognized and handled, then the dementia reverses and the particular person can return to regular functioning.
Nevertheless, most causes of dementia will not be reversible. Moderately, they’re degenerative ailments of the mind that worsen over time. The most typical explanation for dementia is AD, accounting for as many as 70-80% of all circumstances of dementia.
Roughly 5.three million Individuals presently reside with AD. As individuals become old, the prevalence of AD will increase, with roughly 50% of individuals age 85 and older having the illness.
It is very important observe, nevertheless, that though AD is extraordinarily widespread in later years of life, it’s not a part of regular getting older. For that matter, dementia isn’t a part of regular getting older. If somebody has dementia (as a consequence of no matter underlying trigger), it represents an necessary downside in want of applicable prognosis and remedy by a well-trained healthcare supplier who focuses on degenerative ailments.
In a nutshell, dementia is a symptom, and AD is the reason for the symptom.
When somebody is advised they’ve dementia, it implies that they’ve important reminiscence issues in addition to different cognitive difficulties, and that these issues are extreme sufficient to get in the way in which of day by day residing.
More often than not, dementia is attributable to the particular mind illness, AD. Nevertheless, some unusual degenerative causes of dementia embody vascular dementia (additionally known as multi-infarct dementia), frontotemporal dementia, Lewy Physique illness, and power traumatic encephalopathy.
Opposite to what some individuals might imagine, dementia isn’t a much less extreme downside, with AD being a extra extreme downside. There may be not a continuum with dementia on one facet and AD on the excessive. Moderately, there might be early or gentle levels of AD, which then progress to reasonable and extreme levels of the illness.
One purpose for the confusion about dementia and AD is that it’s not potential to diagnose AD with 100% accuracy whereas somebody is alive. Moderately, AD can solely really be identified after loss of life, upon post-mortem when the mind tissue is fastidiously examined by a specialised physician known as a neuropathologist.
Throughout life, a affected person might be identified with “possible AD.” This time period is utilized by medical doctors and researchers to point that, primarily based on the particular person’s signs, the course of the signs, and the outcomes of assorted assessments, it is vitally doubtless that the particular person will present pathological options of AD when the mind tissue is examined following loss of life.
In specialty reminiscence clinics and analysis packages, such because the BU ADC, the accuracy of a possible AD prognosis might be wonderful. And with the outcomes of thrilling new analysis, reminiscent of that being performed on the BU ADC, the accuracy of AD prognosis throughout life is getting higher and higher.”