Dementia
Glossary Item Attributes
Identifying and definitional attributes | |
Metadata item type: | Glossary Item |
---|---|
Synonymous names: | Dementia |
METEOR identifier: | 737874 |
Registration status: | Health, Standard 05/10/2022 |
Definition: | A group of conditions characterised by the gradual impairment of brain function. Dementia is progressive and degenerative, and both health and functional ability decline over time. Commonly associated with memory loss, dementia can affect speech, cognition (thought), behaviour and mobility. Personality changes may also occur. There are many forms of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, mixed dementia and frontotemporal dementia are the most common. The cognitive symptoms of different causes of dementia often overlap, and multiple different causes of dementia can be present in a single person. Dementia is increasingly common with advancing age and mainly occurs among people aged 65 and over. It is not a normal part of ageing and can affect younger people. |