Is It Forgetfulness Or Dementia: Alzheimers
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Is it forgetfulness or dementia?
Regardless of age, everyone experiences occasional episodes of forgetfulness. Many people fear that a growing number of such lapses are a sure sign of Alzheimer's, but there are important differences between simple forgetfulness and dementia (see Table 1). Experts now recognize a third state called mild cognitive impairment, which falls in between normal memory function and dementia. People with mild cognitive impairment are at increased risk of developing dementia.
Table 1: Normal aging or dementia? | |
| Physicians often use a chart like this to help differentiate between normal aging and dementia. | |
| Normal aging | Dementia |
| Preserved independence in daily activities | Critical dependence on others for key daily living activities |
| The person complains of memory loss but can provide considerable detail regarding incidents of forgetfulness | The person complains of memory problems only if specifically asked; cannot recall instances where memory loss was noticeable |
| The individual is more concerned about alleged forgetfulness than close family members are | Close family members are much more concerned about incidents of memory loss than the individual |
| Recent memory for important events, affairs, and conversations is not impaired | Recent memory for events and ability to converse are both noticeably impaired |
| Occasional word-finding difficulties | Frequent word-finding pauses and substitutions |
| Person does not get lost in familiar territory; may have to pause momentarily to remember way | Person gets lost in familiar territory while walking or driving; may take hours to return home |
| Individual operates common appliances even if unwilling to learn how to operate new devices | Person cannot operate common appliances; unable to learn to operate even simple new appliances |
| No decline in interpersonal social skills | Loss of interest in social activities; socially inappropriate behaviors |
| Normal performance on mental status examinations, relative to the individual's education and culture | Below-normal performance on mental status examinations in ways not accounted for by educational or cultural factors |
| Source: Diagnosis, Management and Treatment of Dementia: A Practical Guide for Primary Care Physicians (American Medical Association). | |
| Last updated: | January 23, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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