What is dementia?
What is dementia?
Dementia is a syndrome (a group of related symptoms) associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning.
There are many different causes of dementia, and many different types.
Signs to look out for
Different types of dementia can affect people differently, and everyone will experience symptoms in their own way.
Common signs include:
- memory loss, such as remembering past events much more easily than recent ones
- problems thinking or reasoning, or finding it hard to follow conversations or TV programmes
- feeling anxious, depressed or angry about memory loss, or feeling confused, even when in a familiar environment.
Types of dementia
Alzheimer's disease
People often get confused about the difference between Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia and, together with vascular dementia, makes up the majority of cases.
Other types of dementia
Information on the different types of dementia can be found on the NHS website: