3 Key Differences Between Alzheimer's And Dementia

Alzheimer's disease and dementia are frequently used interchangeably, but the two medical conditions are not the same things. When dementia is the diagnosis, this means that it was given to a person who doesn't have the same cognitive skills that he used to have. Because he can't think as clearly as he used to be able to, this can affect his day-to-day life. He may no longer be able to perform certain tasks that used to be not a problem for him. People used to simply say that older people were senile instead of using the word dementia, and everyone understood this to mean that these people were getting older and that their mind wasn't as sharp.

We'll discuss in this article some of the differences between Alzheimer's and dementia. We'll first cover dementia as a symptom and Alzheimer's as a disease. We'll wrap up by discussing the differences in brain scans.

1

Dementia Is A Symptom

Dementia does not have one cause alone. There can be numerous reasons that a person develops this condition. Some forms of dementia, such as medicine-induced dementia, can be treated, and the symptoms will go away.

Other forms of dementia involve things like the brain not getting enough oxygen due to a primary disease. If the disease is successfully treated, this type of dementia is also reversed. It would take a doctor's diagnosis to accurately confirm if a person had become senile or if the dementia was the result of something else.

2

Alzheimer's Is A Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a disease, and it is not a symptom like dementia. It's also not considered a condition. However, Alzheimer's disease can cause dementia. This is what confuses people between the two.

Dementia can be a symptom of Alzheimer's, but it is not the only one. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that destroys many important mental functions. It also can't be cured, unlike some other causes of dementia.

3

Different Brain Scans

One of the big differences between someone who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and someone who is diagnosed with dementia is what the doctors can see on medical tests. When someone has Alzheimer's, the brain scans are vastly different from someone who has dementia. There are protein deposits on the brain of someone who has Alzheimer's disease.

Also, the structure of the brain will show some signs of shrinkage. The brain volume of someone who has dementia but not Alzheimer's will not show this shrinkage. The brain cells on the scan of someone with Alzheimer's will also show less activity than someone without the disease.

Now, we've covered some of the major differences between Alzheimer's and dementia. First, we talked about dementia as a symptom and Alzheimer's as a disease. Then, we finished with some of the differences in brain scans.

Half of all dementia cases are diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease. This is a progressive disease that currently has no cure. The symptoms will show up like forgetting things, people, and time and getting lost. The person with the disease may appear confused, agitated, and angry. He may ask the same question repeatedly, and as the disease progresses, the patient can become aggressive due to the changes in the brain.