| Dementia is a syndrome of acquired, persistent | | | | 9. Toxic conditions |
| intellectual impairment with compromised function in | | | | 10. Metabolic disorders |
| multiple spheres of mental activity, such as memory, | | | | 11. Psychiatric disorders |
| language, visuospatial skills, emotion or personality, | | | | In 1997 the APA found that 5% to 8% of individuals |
| and cognition. Recent studies showed that reversible | | | | older than 65 years, 15% to 20% of individuals older |
| dementia syndrome occurs in only 1% of the | | | | than 75 years, and 25% to 50% of individuals older |
| outpatients. Previous assumption was much higher | | | | than 85 years suffer from dementia syndromes. The |
| than the current finding. For clinical purpose dementing | | | | changes seen in dementia are due to pathological |
| disorders can be categorized into cortical and | | | | changes in the brain. With aging frontal cortex and |
| subcortical varieties. In cortical dementia the functions | | | | basal ganglia loses cells and also and deep white and |
| of the cerebral cortex are impaired. It is represented | | | | gray matters show ischemic changes resulting in loss |
| by amnesia, aphasia, apraxia, and agnosia. Dementia | | | | of brain tissue and ventricular enlargement. |
| of Alzheimer's Type is a good example of cortical | | | | Psychomotor speed, arousal, performance on |
| dementia. Subcortical dementia is caused by | | | | nonverbal tasks, recalling nonverbal information, and |
| dysfunction in the deep gray and white matter | | | | performance on nonverbal tasks of cognitive |
| structures that includes basal ganglia, thalamus, brain | | | | flexibility etc are age sensitive function while naming, |
| stem nuclei, and their projections in the frontal lobe. | | | | attention, and verbal tasks are relatively insensitive to |
| These dysfunctions are represented by psychomotor | | | | aging. A physician must be careful in differentiating |
| retardation, defective recall, poor abstraction and | | | | cases with aging process from dementia syndromes. |
| strategy formation, and mood and personality | | | | Specific disorders with dementia like- |
| alteration. Dementia caused by Parkinson's disease is | | | | 1. Dementia of Alzheimer's Type |
| a good example of subcortical dementia. | | | | 2. Vascular dementia |
| As syndrome dementia can also be classified | | | | 3. Dementia due to Picks disease |
| etiologically. The classes are - | | | | 4. Dementia due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease |
| 1. Degenerative disorders | | | | 5. Dementia due to Huntington's disease |
| 2. Vascular dementia | | | | 6. Dementia due to Parkinson's disease |
| 3. Myelinoclastic disorders | | | | 7. Dementia due to HIV disease |
| 4. Traumatic conditions | | | | 8. Substance induced dementia |
| 5. Neoplastic dementias | | | | 9. Dementia syndrome of depression |
| 6. Hydrocephalic dementias | | | | 10. Dementia caused by other conditionswill be |
| 7. Inflammatory conditions | | | | discussed in the following articles keeping this one as |
| 8. Infection related dementias | | | | introductory. |