Dementia is a term which is used to describe a group of symptoms which usually decreases the intellectual functions, and interferes with daily activities. The word dementia is derived from a Latin word where 'de' means 'apart and 'mentis' means mind. It is common in old aged people but can also affect people of any age.

Dementia is not a disease, it is a non-specific syndrome and it affects the functioning of the area which has been affected. The functions of the brain which are affected by dementia are problem solving, language, memory and attention. The patient may forget the day, date, month and year or he may forget the place where he lives, he can even forget the people who are near and dear to him.

The most common causes of dementia are Alzheimer's disease and the other causes are vascular problems, dementia with Lewy bodies, fronto temporal dementia and other disease such as AIDS, progressive supranuclear palsy, Korsakoff's syndrome, Binswanger's disease and Crutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Dementia is also common in patients suffering with Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.

The two main categories of dementia are cortical dementia and sub-cortical dementia. In the cortical dementia the cerebral cortex is affected, Alzheimer disease is the type of Cortical dementia whereas sub-cortical dementia affects the part of brain that is beneath the cortex, in this type memory and language are not affected. A person suffering with multi-infarct dementia will have both the forms of dementia.

The symptoms of dementia are memory loss which makes him to forget the basic things like his name, pace and his way back home etc. the other symptoms of dementia are moodiness and communicative difficulty. Gradually the individual will find difficulty in accomplishing his daily activities by himself.

The treatment of dementia is not possible in majority of cases, but several studies are being done to find the treatment for dementia. The commonly used treatment for dementia are coagnative and behavioral therapy. Music therapy can also help the patients suffering with dementia.

The medications used for dementia are Tacrine (Cognex), donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine and galantamine (Razadyne). These medications of dementia are approved in the USA for the treatment of this disease.