the.com/dementia
the slow unbundling of a person, memory first, self last.
means an umbrella term for a decline in memory, thinking, and reasoning severe enough to wreck daily life, caused by damage to brain cells.
from latin de- (away from) plus mens (mind) — literally out of one's mind, coined centuries before anyone understood what was actually happening in the brain.
not one diseasealzheimer's is the cause in most cases, not the umbrella
reversible mimics existvitamin deficiency and thyroid issues can fake it
long before diagnosisbrain changes start decades before symptoms appear
global scaleover 55 million people live with it worldwide
for instance
alzheimer's disease — 60-70 percent of all dementia cases
lewy body dementia — robin williams lived with this, diagnosed posthumously in 2014
vascular dementia — caused by strokes cutting blood flow to the brain
frontotemporal dementia — struck bruce willis, hits personality before memory