dementia
An elderly woman with dementia looks at a family photo album with a kind caregiver.
Noun: 1. A chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning: Dementia is a broad term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. It is not a specific disease but a general term for symptoms affecting memory, thinking, and social abilities. 2. A condition characterized by progressive, irreversible cognitive decline: It involves the loss of cognitive functioning—thinking, remembering, and reasoning—to such an extent that it interferes with a person's daily life and activities.
- Noun:
- The most common cause of dementia in older adults is Alzheimer's disease.
- Caring for a loved one with dementia can be emotionally challenging.
- The doctor diagnosed the patient with vascular dementia after a series of strokes.
- "to have/suffer from dementia": to be affected by the condition.
- Her grandfather began to suffer from dementia in his late seventies.
- "dementia care": specialized support and services for individuals with dementia.
- The facility is renowned for its excellent dementia care.
- "dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)": a specific type of dementia that shares symptoms with both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
- Visual hallucinations are a common early symptom of dementia with Lewy bodies.
- Demented (adj): suffering from dementia; (in informal, potentially offensive use) behaving irrationally due to anger or excitement.
- The clinical term is "a person with dementia," not "a demented person."
- Dement (verb, archaic): to make insane or to cause dementia. (Rarely used in modern English).
- Dementing (adj): causing dementia.
- The dementing illness progressed rapidly.
- Cognitive decline: A gradual decrease in cognitive abilities.
- Senility: An outdated and imprecise term for mental frailty in old age, often associated with dementia. (Note: This term is now considered non-specific and potentially stigmatizing).
- Neurocognitive disorder: A more modern clinical term used in some diagnostic manuals.
- "Early-onset dementia": dementia that develops before the age of 65.
- Early-onset dementia often presents unique challenges for families.
- "Dementia praecox": an obsolete historical term for what is now typically classified as schizophrenia, not dementia as currently defined.
(Note: There are no common idioms directly centered on the word "dementia" due to its clinical nature. It is typically used in medical and care contexts.)
An elderly woman with dementia looks at a family photo album with a kind caregiver.
- mental deterioration of organic or functional origin