Demencias
Dementia is a broad category of brain diseases that cause a long term and often gradual decrease in the ability to think and remember that is great enough to affect a person’s daily functioning.[2] Other common symptoms include emotional problems, problems with language, and a decrease in motivation.[2][3] A person’s consciousness is usually not affected.[2] A dementia diagnosis requires a change from a person’s usual mental functioning and a greater decline than one would expect due to aging.[2][10] These diseases also have a significant effect on a person’s caregivers.[2]
The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which makes up 50% to 70% of cases. Other common types include vascular dementia (25%), Lewy body dementia (15%), and frontotemporal dementia.[2][3] Less common causes include normal pressure hydrocephalus, Parkinson’s disease, syphilis, and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease among others.[11] More than one type of dementia may exist in the same person.[2] A small proportion of cases run in families.[12] In the DSM-5, dementia was reclassified as a neurocognitive disorder, with various degrees of severity.[13] Diagnosis is usually based on history of the illness and cognitive testingwith medical imaging and blood work used to rule out other possible causes.[4] The mini mental state examination is one commonly used cognitive test.[3] Efforts to prevent dementia include trying to decrease risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and obesity.[2] Screening the general population for the disorder is not recommended.[14]