Dementia and Alzheimer's 

(Insight from the Alzheimer's Reading Room)

There is often a great deal of confusion about the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's. Dementia (a term that has replaced the word, senility) refers to significant memory problems, and changes in thinking, reasoning, perception and knowledge that are severe enough to get in the way of daily living. Some causes of dementia are reversible, such as certain thyroid conditions or vitamin deficiencies which, if identified and treated, can be reversed. Most causes are not reversible. Those are degenerative diseases of the brain (such as Alzheimer's, ALS, Huntington's and Parkinson's disease) that get worse over time.

Just as a fever is an elevated temperature indicating sickness, but does not give any information about what is causing the sickness, dementia means something is wrong with a person's brain, but it does not provide any information about what is causing the difficulties. Dementia is not a disease; it is the clinical presentation or symptoms of a disease. In a nutshell, dementia is a symptom, and Alzheimer's is just one cause of that symptom. 

Alzheimer's Disease is the most common cause of dementia. It accounts for as many as 70-80% of all cases of dementia, and approximately 5.3 million Americans currently live with the disease. Another reason for confusion is that it is not possible to diagnose Alzheimer's with 100% accuracy while someone is alive; it can only truly be diagnosed by examining brain tissue after death.

Choose to see opportunities to learn. 

Own up to your shortcomings, but never see yourself as a failure. Disappointment, defeat, and even failure are not permanent conditions, unless we choose to make them so. What these undeniably painful experiences can be is the solid foundation on which to build future success.