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You are here : Healthopedia.com > Medical Encyclopedia > Diseases and Conditions > Dementia: Symptoms & Signs
      Category : Health Centers > Mental Health (Mental Disorders)

Dementia

Alternate Names : Senility

Dementia | Symptoms & Signs | Diagnosis & Tests | Prevention & Expectations | Treatment & Monitoring | Attribution


What are the signs and symptoms of the condition?

Symptoms of dementia often aren't noticed right away. Or if they are, people sometimes assume that dementia is just a part of aging. However, as more brain cells die, more brain functions are lost, and symptoms become more severe. Common symptoms of dementia include the following:

  • being disoriented to time and place
  • changes in mood, including depression and anxiety
  • delusions, or believing things that are not true
  • hallucinations, which include hearing, seeing, feeling, and smelling things that do not exist
  • impaired ability to orient the body to the surrounding space
  • language breakdown, with slurred speech and trouble finding the right words
  • loss of bowel and bladder control
  • a loss of interest in activities that gave pleasure before
  • memory loss that affects the person's skills. Short-term memory, or memory of recent events, is particularly affected in people with dementia.
  • misplacing belongings
  • personality changes, including agitation, irritability, paranoia, and hostility
  • poor or decreased judgment
  • trouble doing familiar activities
  • Sometimes, family members may not want to face how serious their loved one's decline is. Doctors may misdiagnose the condition.


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    Dementia: Overview, Causes, & Risk Factors

     

    Dementia: Diagnosis & Tests

    Author: Ann Reyes, Ph.D.
    Reviewer: Kathleen A. MacNaughton, RN, BSN
    Date Reviewed: 10/10/02









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    Page Last Updated: 6th April, 2009