Causes of Dementia
Acute Brain Events: Acute or traumatic causes of dementia or dementia-like symptoms include:
- Head injury (e.g. blunt injury, falls, causing head injury)
- Brain injury
- Concussion
- Post-concussion syndrome
- Stroke
Progressive Neurological Disorders: Various different progressive brain disorders may result in dementia:
- Dementia Disorders
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Multi-Infarct Dementia (MID)
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Huntington’s Disease
- Pick’s Disease
- Prion Disease
- Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD)
Other Brain Disorders: Various dysfunctions of the brain may result in dementia:
- Brain tumor
- Brain lesion
- Brain damage (e.g. hypoxic brain damage)
- Senile Dementia (age-related dementia)
- General paresis (paralytic dementia)
- Encephalopathies
- Alcoholic encephalopathy (Korsakoff Psychosis / Wernicke Disease)
- Toxic encephalopathy
- Hepatic encephalopathy (liver failure)
- Cerebral atherosclerosis
- Tertiary syphilis
- AIDS
- Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
- Brain disorders (many types)
Metabolic and Systemic Disorders: Some systemic diseases cause dementia via an indirect effect on the brain:
Substance-Related Disorders: Many different substances may impact the brain, resulting in dementia, either acute or chronic, such as:
- Alcoholism (chronic)
- Chronic drug abuse
- Barbiturate abuse
- Poisoning
- Ergotism (Ergot poisoning)
- Pellagra (niacin deficiency)
- Thiamine deficiency (usually with alcoholism)
- Medication side-effects
- Antidepressive medication side-effects
- Drug interactions
Other Disease Considerations: Other possible causes of dementia, or in some cases, of symptoms similar to dementia, but not quite the same issues, include:
- Depressive Disorders
- Major Depression
- Delusional Disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Paranoid Disorders
- Delirium
- Psychosis (Psychotic Disorders)
- Dissociative Disorders
Similar Symptoms: See also the possible causes of other related or similar symptoms, such as:
- Delirium
- Delusions
- Confusion
- Cognitive difficulty
- Indecision
- Depressive symptoms
- Dissociation
- Detachment
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Note: This site is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. See your doctor or other qualified medical professional for all your medical needs.