What is the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia?

Although they are used interchangeably, the truth is that dementia is not a specific disease but rather a general term that describes a range of symptoms. What is the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Dementia involves seven different diseases, and Alzheimer’s is one of those diseases. But obviously they have one thing in common and that is which involve a series of symptoms that affect a person’s ability to independently carry out daily activities.

While any type of dementia usually affects older adults over the age of 65, it is not just something that occurs at older ages and can appear in younger people as well. Although the cases are quite similar.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s: differences between the two pathologies

As explained by professionals at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, but it is not the only one. There are seven diagnosed and studied types and several causes of dementia.

This also means this Dementia is a term that involves several diseases but not one disease itself. All types of dementia are diseases that affect the functioning of the brain and the affected person’s ability to remember, hold a conversation, work or do things around the house.

For this reason they are diseases that complicate not only the person who suffers from them but also those around them. They have treatments and can be accompanied by doctors but there is no cure yet. The symptoms they present worsen as time passes.

Although these are usually diseases that affect the elderly, there are confirmed cases around the world of people who were diagnosed much earlier. In 2014, a film starring actress Julianne Moore titled “Always Alice” was released in which a Harvard professor is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 50.

Some common symptoms of dementia are memory impairment, changes in thinking skills, poor reasoning ability, lack of concentration and attention, changes in speech and behavior.

What is Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that gradually complicates memory and the ability to thinkry, over time, the ability to perform even simpler tasks.

Within the spectrum of dementias, this is estimated to be the most common disease in adults over the age of 65. The exact causes that could generate this pathology are still unknown, but doctors give some advice to try to prevent it, even for people whose parents or grandparents suffered from it.

They recommend checking hypertension, cholesterol, overweight and diabetes; follow a healthy diet based on vegetables, fruit and lean meats; exercise throughout your life; have an active social life, which is very important when a person’s working hours end, and read, write, do maths or crosswords, posing challenges to the mind.