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It鈥檚 not unusual for people to use the terms 鈥榙ementia鈥� and 鈥楢lzheimer鈥檚 disease鈥� interchangeably; however, they鈥檙e not the same.

Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer鈥檚 disease is a specific type of dementia that causes memory loss and impairment of other important mental functions.

鈥淒ementia is an umbrella term for a serious decline in mental ability that impacts one鈥檚 overall health and functioning,鈥� said Marcia Ory, PhD, MPH, head of the聽Center for Population Health and Aging聽and Regents and Distinguished Professor at the. 鈥淭here are different types of dementia, and the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer鈥檚.鈥�

Alzheimer鈥檚 disease makes up between聽60% and 80% of dementia cases. It is a progressive disease, which means that the symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years; Alzheimer鈥檚 sufferers live an average of eight years after their symptoms became noticeable to others.

Other specific types of dementia include vascular dementia and mixed dementia. Vascular dementia is considered the second-most common form of dementia after Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and usually results from injuries to the vessels supplying blood to the brain 鈥� often after a stroke or series of strokes.

Other less-common types of dementia come from frontotemporal disorders and Lewy body dementia. Frontotemporal disorders are a form of dementia caused by a family of brain diseases known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Lewy body dementia is caused by abnormal deposits of a protein 鈥� called alpha-synuclein 鈥� in the brain.

Mixed dementia is a term that describes having multiple types of dementia, such as both Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and vascular dementia. In a person with mixed dementia, it may not be clear which symptoms are attributed to one type of dementia over the other. Researchers are still working to understand how the disease processes influence one another in mixed dementia patients.

In some cases, it鈥檚 not known what type of dementia someone has. The causes of dementia are not always known, and some older people may develop age-associated memory impairment 鈥� which is different to dementia and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

Risk factors for dementia

Two of the most common risk factors for Alzheimer鈥檚 and dementia are age and genetics. Most individuals with Alzheimer鈥檚 are 65 or older, and those who have a parent or sibling with Alzheimer鈥檚 are more likely to develop the disease. However, there is evidence to suggest that there are other factors that people can influence.

According to research from the ,聽one-third聽of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease cases were attributed to preventable risk factors. The seven main risk factors for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease are diabetes, hypertension, obesity, physical inactivity, depression, smoking and low educational attainment.

鈥淢inimising the risk of these factors can potentially minimise the onset of dementia, but to an unknown degree,鈥� Ory said. 鈥淲e know that physical activity, a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle can help reduce the symptomology of many major diseases, and similarly these can affect the onset and progression of dementia symptomatology.鈥�

The role of healthcare providers

Healthcare professionals can ease the burden of concern for many people concerned about dementia and improve quality of life if a patient has any of these conditions.

Although there are no medications or treatment that can cure dementia or Alzheimer鈥檚, medications and a healthy lifestyle do help.

鈥淏efore people talked about dementia in medical terms, they鈥檇 say that the patient was 鈥榗razy鈥� or 鈥榮enile鈥�,鈥� Ory said. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 use those terms now because they recognise it鈥檚 a medical condition and not about personality or willpower. Alzheimer鈥檚 and dementia are far too common and are not something we can ignore.鈥�

Image credit: 漏stock.adobe.com/au/Colin McKie