Dementia is a disease where brain cells die in an abnormal way. It is a term used to describe progressive degenerative brain disease. It is not part of normal ageing. The memory, thinking, behaviour and emotions are affected in dementia. It occurs in people of all cultures and educational background. Although there is no cure for dementia, treatments are available to manage the symptoms.

Each person will experience dementia in his or her own way. Symptoms may include:

• forgetting dates
• repeatedly misplacing items
• repeating questions
• Frequently leaving gas stoves on or
  water taps running
• difficulty in finding the right words to
  express oneself
• difficulty understanding what people
  are saying
• difficulty in performing previously
  routine tasks
• getting lost in previously familiar
  surroundings
• having trouble driving
• problems making financial decisions
• mood changes, including agitation
  and depression
• personality changes like behaving
  inappropriately in social situations.

In the early stage, it may be difficult to tell if there is really something wrong. It is common for people affected by Alzheimer's disease (one of the causes of dementia) to deny that they are having problems. Family members may suspect that something is wrong. It is important to get help as soon as possible as medications can have a more beneficial effect when started at an early stage of the disease.

In the middle stage, supervision on certain daily activities is needed. Mood and personality changes may become more prominent sand problematic. For example, they may frequently become agitated in the middle of the night or wander off and become lost. Or they may lose their inhibitions, undress in public or make inappropriate sexual advances.

The late stage of the illness is marked by severe cognitive decline. The impaired person is apathetic, disoriented, and unable to find their way around the house. The person may also become incontinent and lose all intelligible speech. Eventually in the late stage, those affected are unable to care for themselves and need help with all aspects of daily life.

There are a number of diseases which cause the symptoms of dementia. All of them cause the death of brain cells. There are many factors which may have an effect on the risk of developing dementia, including age, genes, alcohol and head injury. The two most common causes of dementia are Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

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