Dementia

Dementia is not a specific disease. It is a descriptive term for a collection of symptoms that can be caused by a number of disorders that affect the brain. People with dementia have significantly impaired intellectual functioning that interferes with normal activities and relationships.

What Causes Dementia?

Dementia occurs due to loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It can affect several brain functions such as memory, thinking, language, planning, behavior and judgement. Dementias are usually progressive and worsen with time. They usually are degenerative and non reversible.

What is Dementia?

Differences Between Alzheimer's and Dementia

Dementia Diagnosis

Dementia Prevention

Dementia Symptoms

Dementia Treatment

Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Bright Light Therapy and Dementia

Aromatherapy for Dementia

Coconut Oil and Dementia

What is Mixed Dementia?

See more featured articles »

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Dementia

Childhood Dementia Causes

Mixed Dementia Prevention and Treatment

Mixed Dementia Symptoms and Diagnosis

Childhood Dementia Signs and Symptoms

Parkinson's Compared to Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB)

Antidepressants and Dementia: Is There a Link?

Does Depression and Anxiety Increase the Risk of Dementia?

Migraines and Dementia

Latest Dementia News and Research

Actively speaking two languages delays the onset of mild cognitive impairment

As well as allowing us to communicate with other people, languages are the tool we use to convey our thoughts, identity, knowledge, and the way we see and understand the world.

18 Sep 2020

Women with prolonged fertility have elevated dementia risk

Women with a longer reproductive period had an elevated risk for dementia in old age, compared with those who were fertile for a shorter period, a population-based study from the University of Gothenburg shows.

17 Sep 2020

Study provides valuable insights on effects of APOE gene on health and disease

From Alzheimer's to obesity, life can change dramatically if you discover you have a genetic risk of disease. Now, a new study from the Australian Centre for Precision Health, University of South Australia is challenging these predispositions, showing that some of the genes traditionally labelled as 'bad' are not always what they seem.

16 Sep 2020

Genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease has early effects on the brain

A genetic predisposition to late-onset Alzheimer's disease affects how the brains of young adults cope with certain memory tasks.

15 Sep 2020

Scientists unlock crucial molecular details regarding tau's activity

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a type of dementia that appears earlier in life than Alzheimer's disease (AD).

15 Sep 2020

NIH awards $26.56 million grant to create new Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program

Since 1976, the Framingham Heart Study (FHS)--the longest running multi-generational epidemiological study in the world--has followed participants for incident dementia.

14 Sep 2020

IU School of Medicine and partners receive funding to deploy collaborative dementia care model

Supported by a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Indiana University School of Medicine and its partners have launched a 36-month venture to enhance, strengthen and expand supports for people with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and their caregivers in 34 Indiana counties.

14 Sep 2020

Drug for liver cirrhosis shows potential to treat dementia and motor neuron disease

A drug used to treat cirrhosis of the liver may be an effective treatment for a form of Dementia and motorneuron disease, scientists have discovered.

14 Sep 2020

NIH provides additional support for large scale study of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers

To meet the pressing need to better understand the prevalence, progression, and clinical impact of Alzheimer's disease among Mexican Americans, the National Institutes of Health has added funding for more biomarker measures, including positron emission tomography imaging, to the ongoing Health and Aging Brain Among Latino Elders Study.

14 Sep 2020

Even mild concussions cause severe and long-lasting impairments in the brain

Even mild concussions cause severe and long-lasting impairments in the brain's ability to clean itself of toxins, and this may seed it for Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other neurodegenerative problems, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals.

11 Sep 2020

Lifestyle-based changes may modify the course of cognitive decline

Results from a new study suggest that lifestyle changes may help to improve cognition in older adults experiencing cognitive decline that precedes dementia.

10 Sep 2020

Hospitals, nursing homes fail to separate COVID patients, putting others at risk

Nurses at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center were on edge as early as March when patients with COVID-19 began to show up in areas of the hospital that were not set aside to care for them.

10 Sep 2020

Alcohol-induced vitamin B1 deficiency can be a key factor in cognitive decline

A common consequence of chronically high alcohol consumption is a decline in cognitive function, which can even progress to full-blown dementia. However, we do not yet fully understand how alcohol damages the brain.

9 Sep 2020

Protein aggregation reduces elasticity of blood vessels in the brain

Deposits of a protein called "Medin", which manifest in virtually all older adults, reduce the elasticity of blood vessels during aging and hence may be a risk factor for vascular dementia.

9 Sep 2020

Research finds different patterns of blood use in the brains of older women with Type 2 diabetes

A University of Houston researcher is reporting that the brains of older women with Type 2 diabetes do not use as much oxygenated blood as those who don't have the disease.

8 Sep 2020

Investigational drug may reduce protein buildup and neurological decline linked to ALS, FTD

An investigational drug that targets an instigator of the TDP-43 protein, a well-known hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), may reduce the protein's buildup and neurological decline associated with these disorders, suggests a pre-clinical study from researchers at Penn Medicine and Mayo Clinic.

8 Sep 2020

American Heart Association honors UVA professor for contributions to cardiovascular research

Robert M. Carey, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, has been named a Distinguished Scientist of the American Heart Association for his "extraordinary contributions" to cardiovascular research.

8 Sep 2020

New insights into how the brain can induce diabetes remission in rodents

In rodents with type 2 diabetes, a single surgical injection of a protein called fibroblast growth factor 1 can restore blood sugar levels to normal for weeks or months. Yet how this growth factor acts in the brain to generate this lasting benefit has been poorly understood.

7 Sep 2020

Common class of drugs may be associated with increased risk of cognitive decline

A team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, report that a class of drugs used for a broad array of conditions, from allergies and colds to hypertension and urinary incontinence, may be associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline, particularly in older adults at greater risk for Alzheimer's disease.

5 Sep 2020