* “I've been very unhappy for 3 months, it's like my brain has stopped working, I can't understand what's being said, I can't remember what I experienced yesterday, I forget very quickly, I think I'm senile.”
* “My wife stares blankly, she doesn't even remember what I said. He's not interested in us. He acts as if life has stopped, we haven't been able to recognize him for 2 months, he went senile at an early age.”
* “He became introverted and stopped eating and drinking. His attention and memory are terrible. He doesn't read newspapers or watch television. What happened to my father? Is he starting to get dementia?
These statements should bring to mind the disease of depression, which is a very good imitator of dementia and is also called pseudodementia. Deterioration in mental functions (lack of attention, forgetfulness, etc.) is one of the main symptoms of depression and may lead to misdiagnosis as dementia. There is no real loss of memory in depression, there are temporary distractions and forgetfulness due to psychomotor slowing down (mental and physical slowing down) and anxiety. Unlike dementia, forgetfulness in depression can be improved with treatment.
On the other hand, there is a possibility that the patient has depression along with dementia (both diseases coexist at the same time) or that the patient becomes depressed in the initial period of dementia (the first period of dementia may resemble a depression clinic). has. Therefore, the physician must be alert; Dementia should not be overlooked by making a preliminary diagnosis of depression. Especially in elderly depressive patients, if mental dysfunctions are at the forefront, dementia should be investigated. Examination of the patient (cranial MRI, EEG, NPT (neuropsychological test battery), etc.) is appropriate.
Before deciding that dementia is present, physical diseases of the brain (bleeding, hydrocephalus, infection, tumor, etc.) and depression, delirium are examined. Mental disorders such as mental retardation, schizophrenia, and Ganser syndrome should be considered and excluded in the differential diagnosis. The course of treatment is determined by making a definitive diagnosis, in other words, treatment is directed towards the diagnosed disease (cause).
The diseases that come to mind when dementia is mentioned are: Alzheimer's disease (the most common), vascular dementia, other diseases. related dementia (Pick's disease, Creutzfeld-Jacob's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, AIDS).
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