Assessment of people with memory symptoms

Abstract

Dementia is a term that refers to those disorders of the brain that result in progressive impairment of brain functions such as memory, language, judgement and thinking. Dementia affects the ability of the person to function and creates difficulties in performing familiar and previously known tasks, eventually even impairing the person's ability to take care of oneself. The commonest cause of dementia is Alzheimer's Disease, accounting for some 50 - 60% of all cases of dementia. Other common conditions resulting in dementia are Vascular Dementia and Lewy Body Disease. There is currently no definite cure from dementia, but treatment is now available that may help some of the symptoms and may help regain some abilities, delaying the need for nursing home care.