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The Difference Between Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

What Is Dementia?

Dementia is a brain disorder that causes permanent loss of memory or other cognitive functions such as personality or daily functioning. Dementia can either be progressive, such as in Alzheimer's disease, or it may remain stable, as can often occur after a stroke or head injury. It is a problem of the brain that makes it difficult for a person to remember, learn and communicate. After time, this makes it hard for the person to take care of himself or herself. Researchers speculate that there are over 65 different types of dementia; some reversible and some are irreversible such as Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, Vascular dementia or Frontotemporal dementia.

What Is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s Type Dementia, also called Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, or abbreviated (DAT) is the most common form of dementia. It is thought to be the 6th leading cause of death and impacts over 5 million Americans. Alzheimer’s type dementia or “DAT” causes brain failure as the disease destroys brain cells that regulate thinking, memory and other daily abilities.

Damage in the brain caused by Alzheimer’s Type dementia involves nerve cells that begin to function poorly and eventually the cells die. Two ways that nerve cell damage occurs is through the development of plaques and tangles. Plaques are special protein deposits that accumulate between nerve cells. The unique protein in plaque is called “beta-amyloid”. Tangles are twisted fibers with a protein called “tau” that develops inside nerve cells. It is still unclear to researcher how the plaques and tangles work but is thought that they interfere with important communication between nerve cells that are responsible for critical functions like memory and new learning.

Why Are Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia Confused?

The words “Alzheimer’s disease” and “dementia” are often used interchangeably since Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be seen in over half of all cases of dementia; researchers estimate that it could represent somewhere between 45 % and 70 % of all cases of dementia. This range fluctuates due to inconsistency in the diagnosing of dementia and also due to the fact that many persons with dementia have symptoms for many years before they are thought to have the disease.

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