Dementia
Dementia is a term used to describe various different brain disorders that have in common a loss of brain function that is usually progressive and eventually severe. Other common types include vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.
Symptoms include loss of memory, confusion and problems with speech and understanding.
Alzheimer's disease is probably the most well known form of dementia and is the most common cause of dementia, affecting around 420,000 people in the UK.
Alzheimer's disease was first described by the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer.
People with the disease have physical changes in the brain and these changes cause brain cells to die. The transmission of messages within the brain is also inhibited because of the chemical imbalances caused by the disease.
Some forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease are progressive, which means that a gradual process over time causes more and more of the brain to be damaged.
