Alzheimer's Disease
Learn about the leading cause of dementia in Canada.
Types Of Dementia
Dementia refers to an overall, progressive decline in mental abilities that is severe enough to interfere with daily life.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type (or cause) of dementia. As Dr Zahinoor Ismail from the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute described, “if dementia is your range of pickup trucks on the road in Alberta, Alzheimer’s disease is your Ford F-150.”
There are numerous causes of dementia. Here are some of the main ones, along with their signs and symptoms.
Vascular Dementia
An interruption of blood flow to the brain and the resulting death of brain cells responsible for regular functioning.
Lewy Body Dementia
A form of progressive dementia identified by unusual collections of alpha-synuclein proteins (called lewy bodies) in the nerve cells of the brain.
Frontotemporal Dementia
A spectrum of relatively uncommon disorders that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain
Young-Onset Dementia
May be caused by the same diseases that cause dementia in an older individual.
Mild Cognitive Impairment
A condition characterized by a slight but noticeable and measurable decline in a person’s cognitive abilities, including memory and thinking skills.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Results from an impact to the head that affects normal brain function and may affect a person’s cognitive abilities including learning and thinking skills.
Parkinson's Disease Dementia
A decline in thinking and reasoning that eventually affects a number of people with Parkinson's disease.
Mixed Dementia
A condition where changes representing more than one type of dementia occur simultaneously in the brain.
Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
A brain disorder in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in cavities of the brain causing cognitive challenges, difficulty walking and loss of bladder control.
Korsakoff Syndrome
A chronic memory disorder caused by severe deficiency of thiamine (Vitamin B1).
Posterior Cortical Atrophy
Progressive and gradual degeneration of the outer layer of the brain (cortex), particularly in the part of the brain located in the back (posterior) of the head.
Huntington's Disease And Dementia
A progressive brain disorder caused by a gene on chromosome 4.
Down Syndrome Dementia
A condition characterized by the presence of extra material on chromosome 21.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
The most common human form of a group of rare fatal brain disorders known as prion diseases.
Rare Types of Dementia
Less common and lesser-known types of dementia