Dementing Illnesses

Dementia is defined as an acquired, persistent decline of intellectual function that causes impaired performance of daily activities, without clouding of the sensorium or underlying psychiatric disease. The decline must involve at least two of the following domains: (a) ability to learn and remember new information, (b) reasoning and judgment, (c) visuospatial perception, (d) language function, and (e) personality and behavior. Patients who have experienced an episode of brain dysfunction from a wide variety of causes may be left with significantly impaired cognitive function that subsequently remains stable or improves. These nonprogressive dementias do not present the same diagnostic or management issues as the progressive dementias.