Dementia Defined

Dementia Defined

The term dementia has represented many different meanings 

and connotations over time. The Word itself comes from Latin, 

literally meaning to be “without a mind.” It is an ancient term 

that appears as both a disease state in Roman medical texts and 

a form of political sarcásm in the philosophical works of Cicero. 

In the past wvo centuries, the term dementia has most often 

been used to refer to brain disease characterized by intellectual 

impairment. 'Ihe terms presenile dementia and senile dementia 

were frequently used to refer to disease stares that developed 

before or after 65 years of age, respectively, and eventually the 

term scnílity became synonymous with dementia. In earlier 

diagnostic schemes, dementia had also been referred to as an 

organic mental syndrome and an organic brain syndrome. 

Regardless of the diagnostic term, dementia historically was 

viewed as a form of permanent brain damage. 

DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA AND ASSOCIATED

FEATURES 

According to the current diagnostic classificutiolx in the 

Diagnastir and Statí.stical Manual of Mental Disorclers, Fourth 

Edition Text Revision  dementia refers to the 

development of multiple cognitive or intellectual deficits that 

involve memory impairment of new or previously learned 

information and one or more of the following dismrhances: 

1. Aphasia, or language disturbance; 

2. Apraxia, ur impairment in carrying out skilled motor 

activities despite intact motor function;

3. Agnosia, or deficits in recognizing familiar persons or 

objects despite intact sensory function; 

4. Executive dysfunction, or impairments in planning, initi-

ating, organizing, and abstract reasoning. 

These deficits result in significant impairment in both 

social and occupational functioning, and they represent a 

decline, often with an insidious onset and progressive course, 

from a previous level of functioning. Associated features of 

dementia that are not formally listed as para of the diagnostic 

criteria include personality changes, behavioral disruptions 

(e.g., agitation, disinhibition), apathy, depression, psychosis, 

anxiety, sleep disturbances, sexual dysfunction, neurologic 

symptoms (e.g., motor and gait disturbances, seizures), and 

delirium. Collectively, these symptoms result in a disorder 

devastating for both the affected individuals and their loved 

ones and caregivers. Therefore, the fact that the immediate 

caregivers of individuals with dementia have higher than 

expected rates of medical and psychiatrie illness, especially 

depression, and increased mortality is not surprising.