Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Aging: The Important Differences and Similarities

Dementia can be classified in 6 different forms. These forms are:

Senile Dementia

Simple dementia  is often confused with senility or senile dementia. Some say that senility, defined as serious mental decline, is just a normal part of aging. This, however, is not true. Senile dementia requires professional medical intervention.

Cortical dementia

Cortical dementia is caused by difficulties in the cerebral cortex or the outer layer of the brain. This type of dementia usually is characterized by severe memory loss. With cortical demenita, patients forget words and have trouble understanding language. Creutzfeldt-Jakob and Alzheimer’s are two types of cortical dementia.

Subcortical dementia

Subcortical dementia develops due to problems in the part of the brain beneath the cortex. This type of dementia comes from Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and HIV.

Progressive Dementia

Progressive Dementia becomes worse over time. Those with progressive dementia eventually lose the ability to do certain tasks. Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, and frontotemporal dementia are considered progressive dementias.

Primary Dementia

If you show symptoms of dementia, you probably have primary dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is considered primary dementia and accounts for most of all dementia cases.

Secondary dementia

Secondary dementia develops as a part of a pre-existing condition like a mental illness. Brian infections, multiple sclerosis, and progressive supranuclear palsy are examples of secondary dementia. Secondary dementias are controllable, which makes them different from all other types of dementia.