Alzheimer’s disease is the best-known cause of dementia — but there are a slew of other causes, too. Do you know what they are?
By Madeline Vann, MPH | Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH
Dementia is really a big umbrella term that covers a number of different conditions that cause dementia symptoms. Of these, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common and perhaps best known — but it’s not the only one.
“There are many different types of dementia,” says Ross Andel, PhD, associate professor at the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida in Tampa. “The most common types of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. All types of dementia are characterized by abnormal neurodegeneration, that is, brain cells dying off in high numbers daily. In most cases, this leads to cognitive and behavioral deficits or, in Parkinson’s disease, to deficits in motor skills.”
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