What is Dementia?

Dementia is an organic brain syndrome which results in global cognitive impairments. Dementia can occur as a result of a variety of neurological diseases. Some of the more well known dementing diseases include Alzheimer's disease (AD), multi-infarct dementia (MID), and Huntington's disease (HD). Throughout this essay the emphasis will be placed on AD (also known as dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and primary degenerative dementia), because statistically it is the most significant dementing disease occurring …

…and 19 have been added to chromosome 21 as causal factors. Furthermore, investigators are now close to localizing the specific genes involved in these chromosomes (it is already known that in chromosome 21 the specific gene involved is the APP gene). With regards to pharmacological treatment the ACh hypothesis for dementia has led to the development of three groups of cholinergic drugs, some of which show great promise. Other drugs are also available but their effectiveness is questionable.