The Difference Between Dementia and Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s and dementia are most commonly associated with the elderly. But the two words do not designate the same disease. So why is knowing the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s so important?

An accurate diagnosis means the proper medication, remedies, and support, and understanding the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia will help lead to it. So, let’s dive in and find out everything there is to know about the difference between these two conditions! 

Dementia vs. Alzheimer’s: Definitions and Statistics

Since both dementia and Alzheimer’s affect the elderly, it’s tough to distinguish them. They both can cause memory loss, a decline in the ability to think and communicate, and difficulties performing routine daily activities.

Dementia is a syndrome that groups symptoms related to declining cognitive mental health. So, is Alzheimer’s a form of dementia? Yes—Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia, the most common one. Alzheimer’s, as opposed to another type of dementia, might require treatment with a cognition-enhancing drug instead of an antidepressant.

Alzheimer’s vs. dementia facts uncover that while dementia is a general term used to portray symptoms that impact memory, reasoning, and communication abilities, Alzheimer’s more profoundly affects memory, language, and thoughts and gets worse with time.

Not surprisingly, a lot of people with dementia never receive a diagnosis officially. The delay in diagnosing it leads to limited dementia treatment options. However, early diagnosis of the disease has the potential to save $118,000 per patient.

The World Health Organization announced that around 50 million people worldwide have dementia. The epidemiological prognosis seems pessimistic—it is estimated that one in three children born today will be affected. Moreover, the cost of dementia care and treatment is predicted to reach $2 trillion globally by 2030.

Furthermore, the number of patients continues to increase. The National Institutes of Health reported that 6.08 million people were diagnosed with dementia in the US. Of those, about 5 million had Alzheimer’s. These same records are expected to double by 2050.

Alzheimer’s vs. Dementia Symptoms

It’s essential to distinguish the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease symptoms include:

• difficulty remembering recent events or conversations
• apathy and depression
• impaired judgment
• disorientation and confusion
• behavioral changes
• problems in speaking, swallowing, or walking in the advanced stages of the disease

Nevertheless, scientists have observed the accumulation of tau and beta-amyloid proteins in the brain in both Alzheimer’s and some types of dementia. These proteins lead to cell death by diminishing the connections between brain cells and starting the impairment of brain function. The brain shows significant shrinkage as the disease’s progresses.

On the other hand, dementia is a syndrome that denotes a deteriorative decline in mental function, almost entirely nonreversible. Brain function decays day after day. So, what are the early signs of dementia? The early symptoms of dementia can be mild. For example, patients complain of single episodes of forgetfulness. As the disease progresses, people have trouble keeping track of time and tend to lose their way in familiar settings. But still, it’s easy to miss the early signs of dementia.

Patients also develop poor memory and confusion as the disease progresses further. It becomes harder to bring to mind names and faces. Personal hygiene also becomes problematic. Most dementia signs consist of:

• repeated questions
• inadequate self-care, and
• poor decision-making

When we compare Alzheimer’s vs. dementia signs and symptoms, we can see that in the advanced dementia stages, people with dementia become incapable of caring for themselves. They struggle even more with recalling the people and places they’re familiar with, tracking the time, and keeping oriented. The behavior continues to vary and can turn into depression and aggression. All these features, which result from a deterioration of brain function, comprise the most common dementia symptoms.

Alzheimer’s disease is a specific disorder that gradually destroys memory and cognitive function. Abnormal proteins form plaques and deposits in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients. The effects of Alzheimer’s on the brain begin years before symptoms emerge, and they are permanent.

As for the difference between Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia (the least common dementia type) symptoms, it’s essential to know that early changes in Alzheimer’s disease include problems with daily memory, while in the early stages of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), patients still remember recent events.

Alzheimer’s and Dementia Causes

Dementia is more commonly developed with aging. Many disorders can cause dementia, including degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. Each condition causes damage to a different set of brain cells, but the final result is always dementia. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for about 60%–70% of all cases of dementia. Other causes of dementia could be a stroke, vascular disease, depression, chronic drug use, infections (such as HIV), etc.

If a patient possesses more than one type of dementia, that is called mixed dementia. Often, people with mixed dementia have numerous conditions that may add to it. Data on Alzheimer’s vs. dementia causes reveal that, unlike dementia, in Alzheimer’s, the precise cause of the disease is unidentified. However, a recent study demonstrated that those with type 2 diabetes in the elderly increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

But what causes the most common type of dementia? Looking at the difference between Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia (VaD), we come to the conclusion that while vascular dementia is often caused by an acute event, like a stroke, or transient ischemic attack, what causes Alzheimer’s isn’t fully understood. However, some contributing factors include genetics, lifestyle, and other environmental factors.

Alzheimer’s research continues to hunt down and question the link between the two diseases, although it’s still not fully understood. Some studies demonstrated that defects in insulin and insulin-like growth factor receptors in the brain could negatively reflect on cognitive functions, mood, and metabolism. All of these components are observed in Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia research evolves intending to treat and potentially prevent the development of this debilitating disease in the future.

How the Difference Between Dementia and Alzheimer’s Is Established and Diagnosed

To establish a dementia diagnosis, a doctor must find two or three cognitive brain areas in decline, including memory loss, language impairment, disorientation, and disorganization. A neurologist typically performs dementia vs. Alzheimer’s test that consists of several mental-skill challenges.

One dementia test includes the Hopkins verbal learning test, which consists of memorizing a list of 12 words followed by a recall of the words. A well-established test is drawing lines to connect a series of numbers and letters in a complicated sequence, which is used to evaluate driving skills.

Unfortunately, there is no definitive Alzheimer’s test. The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease often relies on the exclusion of other causes of dementia. The truth is that a firm diagnosis is only possible during an autopsy by examining the brain tissue under a microscope.

A PET scan could make a difference in dementia vs. Alzheimer’s diagnosis, since it has a 95% accuracy. However, PET scans are helpful only in patients who have typical symptoms, such as having trouble recalling their hobbies or avoiding being social. All of these alarming signs (abandoning hobbies, social activities, work projects, or sports) could be early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

However, Cognetivity Neurosciences has recently developed an app that exploits a five-minute test able to measure cognitive function and spot brain impairment by using visual stimuli and artificial intelligence. Its developers promise that patients will receive an accurate, early diagnosis.

By allowing patients to track their cognitive health, they can adequately plan for their future. This unique platform aims to detect early onset dementia while measuring the effectiveness of treatment and monitoring the progression of the disease.

Unfortunately, by the time the patient has problems remembering their children’s names, it’s almost undoubtedly too late to take on any meaningful intervention. Keeping in mind that all dementia types make it extremely difficult for patients and healthcare systems, using this app could significantly improve the rates of early detection of dementia at the first point of contact with the health system for all patients.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease During the Pandemic

According to a study, people in all dementia and Alzheimer’s stages are at higher risk for the coronavirus, and they are more likely to have worse outcomes. As a matter of fact, people with dementia are twice as likely to contract COVID-19 compared to the general population. Moreover, more dementia patients have died of the virus compared to the general population.

In addition, the study published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association showed that specific kinds of dementia have greater risk than others. For instance, those with vascular dementia showed the highest risk. As for senile dementia vs. Alzheimer’s, those with senile dementia had a higher risk of the virus.

One of the reasons why dementia and Alzheimer’s patients are at the greater risk of coronavirus is that their blood barrier is damaged, which makes it easy for bacteria and viruses to reach their brain. Moreover, both diseases can impact people’s ability to practice social distance, wear a mask, or clean their hands properly and frequently.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Treatment

The treatment options are also different. In some cases, treating the underlying conditions that cause dementia helps. Dementia due to medications, tumors, metabolic disorders, or hypoglycemia are all conditions that should respond well to treatment. Unfortunately, in most cases, dementia isn’t reversible. But some forms of dementia are treatable with the proper medication.

Alzheimer’s medication includes:

• antipsychotic drugs for behavioral changes
• cholinesterase inhibitors for memory loss
• alternative solutions that aim to promote brain capacity or overall health (coconut or fish oil, antidepressants, or drugs for sleep problems)

Although there’s no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, there are several options to help manage the symptoms. And as there are Alzheimer’s vs. dementia differences in the symptoms and signs, there are differences in these options, as well.

A promising new player is an experimental drug that reinforces damaged brain cells. The novel drug, part of the dementia medications, and based on the benzodiazepine-like amid ligands, was patented recently. It has raised hopes for dealing with memory loss, poor decision-making, and other mental impairments. Clinical trials are expected to start within two years after the drug has proven safe and effective at preventing memory lapses.

Furthermore, researchers believe that this particular medication, part of the dementia drugs, can reverse failing memory by targeting specific cells involved in learning and memory and rejuvenating them. Thus, they suggest that this new drug, a derivative of benzodiazepine, could prevent memory loss at the beginning of Alzheimer’s and potentially delay its onset for adults aged above 55 years.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Prevention

There are many ongoing trials regarding the prevention of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Individuals with genetic mutations attributed to the early-onset development of Alzheimer’s disease account for less than 1%, but they are the most likely to develop it.

The Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) conducted a clinical trial that tested whether antibodies to beta-amyloid can alleviate beta-amyloid plaque formation in the brains of patients with these genetic mutations and thereby decrease, delay, or prevent symptoms.

Investigating how to prevent Alzheimer’s, researchers from the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study conducted another clinical trial—the A4 trial (Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s). This trial tests whether antibodies to beta-amyloid can diminish the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in people aged 65–85 who are at high risk for the disease.

Though there’s no particular method to prevent dementia, the evidence is strong that people can decrease their risk by making fundamental lifestyle changes. Keeping their brains active, getting regular physical exercise, and consuming a healthy diet may lessen the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other kinds of dementia.

Conclusion

When looking at the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s, the critical thing to remember is that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia. But the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia is that a patient with Alzheimer’s also has dementia, but only some people with dementia have Alzheimer’s. That’s because there are many different types and causes of dementia.

It’s also essential to consider the influence of dementia and Alzheimer’s on the patient’s family.  Taking care of someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s, especially in advanced dementia or Alzheimer’s stages. Choosing the best medical alert system could make your and the person you take care of lives easier.

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About the Author

Lina Velikova, MD, PhD

Lina’s journey into the world of medicine started in 2004. After her graduation, she became motivated to become an immunologist. She has extensive experience as a scientist and author of scientific papers. Her areas of expertise include autoimmune diseases, allergology, internal medicine, transplantation medicine, immunotherapy, and pediatric immunology. Later, Lina was inspired to become a medical writer for our site. Here, she finds a great place to unfold her potential in writing about socially significant conditions.

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