Dementia

For a lay person:

Dementia is a term for a group of conditions in which the brain gradually loses the ability to remember, think, reason and manage everyday life. It is most common in older people but is not a normal part of ageing. Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia are the most common types, and changes in mood, personality and behaviour are common alongside memory problems.

For a trained medical person:

An acquired, progressive decline in cognition severe enough to impair independent function, most often due to Alzheimer's disease, cerebrovascular disease, Lewy body disease or frontotemporal degeneration, frequently in combination. Diagnosis rests on history from patient and informant, cognitive testing, blood tests to exclude reversible causes (thyroid, B12, calcium and others) and neuroimaging. Management includes cholinesterase inhibitors or memantine where indicated, control of vascular risk factors, treating depression and hearing or vision loss, and support and care planning for patient and carers.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Insufficient Bone Marrow; Spleen and Kidney Deficiency; Phlegm Stasis Obstructing Orifices; Qi and Blood Deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: See a doctor for any new or worsening memory problems, and seek urgent care for sudden confusion, which may be delirium from infection or medication. Check with a doctor or pharmacist before using herbs alongside dementia, anticoagulant or psychiatric medicines, as interactions are possible.