Many people think dementia is the same as Alzheimer’s disease; however, Alzheimer’s disease is just one form of dementia. Other causes of dementia include (but are not limited to) Lewy Body disease, head trauma, fronto-temporal dementia, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease.

These conditions can have similar and overlapping symptoms.

Some conditions can cause reversible dementias which can be controlled and sometimes cured. Examples of these conditions include certain vitamin deficiencies, medication side effects and depression.

In order to understand the cause of the dementia, it is important to arrange for a full medical assessment as early as possible when warning signs of dementia are noticed.

Dementia is a general term that refers to a variety of brain disorders. Physical changes in the brain cause dementia.

Current Statistics

• 40,000+ Albertans living with dementia
• 750,000+ Canadians living with dementia
• 47.5 million people worldwide living with dementia
• 2-10% of dementia starts before age 65
• risk for dementia doubles every 5 years after 65

For more information check out our Let’s Talk dementia Toolkit, now available.