It is caused by physical changes in the brain, and several different diseases can cause it. Alzheimer's disease is the most common; vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia account for most of the rest, and many people have more than one at once.
Dementia is not a normal part of ageing. Forgetting a name is ordinary; forgetting how to get home from a street you have lived on for thirty years is not.
Why it matters
The type matters, because the symptoms to expect, the drugs that are safe and the way the illness progresses all differ.
Sources
Where to check this, and where to read more. All external and all authoritative.
Dementia where you live
The local guide on this, for each city we cover.
- Baltimore, MD
- Boston, MA
- Buffalo, NY
- Charlotte, NC
- Chicago, IL
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Denver, CO
- Detroit, MI
- Houston, TX
- Los Angeles, CA
- Memphis, TN
- Milwaukee, WI
- New York, NY
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Tucson, AZ