Dementia Overview
Vanessa Cardy, MD, and Heidi James, MD
Background
- Dementia is now known as major neurocognitive disorder
- Acquired process of impairment in ≥1 cognitive domains
- Memory
- Aphasia
- Agnosia
- Apraxia
- Executive function
- Causes of confusion in elderly = mnemonic DEMENTIA
- Drugs
- Eyes/Ears
- Metabolic
- Emotional
- Neoplasm/neurologic
- Trauma
- Infection/inflammatory
- Anemia/atherosclerotic disease/Alzheimer’s (dementia)
- Don’t forget that depression can mimic dementia
Clinical Findings
Management