Dementia is the name for a group of symptoms caused by an ongoing decline in brain function. Alzheimer's disease is one disease that causes those symptoms, and the NHS says it is the most common cause of dementia in the UK. So everyone with Alzheimer's disease has dementia, but not everyone with dementia has Alzheimer's: other causes include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia. The Lift College Dementia Awareness Training course explains the main types.
Dementia: the symptoms
The NHS describes dementia as a syndrome, a group of related symptoms, linked to an ongoing decline in brain functioning. It can affect memory, thinking, language, understanding, judgement, mood and movement. People often get confused about the difference, the NHS says, because Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia.
Alzheimer's disease: the most common cause
The NHS says Alzheimer's disease is thought to be caused by the abnormal build-up of two proteins, amyloid and tau. Amyloid forms plaques around brain cells and tau forms tangles inside them. Together with vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease makes up the majority of dementia cases.
How Alzheimer's starts
The NHS says the first sign is usually minor memory problems, such as forgetting recent conversations or events, or the names of places and objects. That is because the hippocampus, the part of the brain that lays down new memories, is often affected early. Symptoms develop gradually over many years and later can include confusion, getting lost in familiar places, difficulty planning or making decisions, problems with speech and language, and changes in behaviour.
Who it affects
Alzheimer's disease is most common in people over 65. The NHS says around 1 in every 13 people with Alzheimer's disease are under 65, which is called early or young onset Alzheimer's disease.
Other causes of dementia
- vascular dementia: reduced blood flow to the brain
- dementia with Lewy bodies: clumps of a protein called alpha-synuclein inside brain cells
- frontotemporal dementia: clumps of proteins in the front and sides of the brain
- mixed dementia: more than one type, most often Alzheimer's with vascular dementia
See our guide to the types of dementia.
Getting checked
The NHS says memory problems do not necessarily mean someone has Alzheimer's disease, and there is no single test for it. If you are worried about your own memory or someone else's, the NHS says to see a GP, and to encourage the other person to make an appointment, perhaps going with them.
Training
Lift College Dementia Awareness Training is 1.5 hours in 5 modules, with a CPD Standards Office accredited certificate the same day you pass.