Myth: getting older means you will get dementia.

Dementia is the result of brain cells being damaged in an ongoing way. This happens as a result of a number of different diseases (sometimes referred to as ‘types’ of dementia). It is not an inevitable part of ageing.

Here are some of the more common diseases that cause dementia:

Common diseases that cause dementia

(Source – Social Care Institute for Excellence 2009)

The term ‘Mixed’ is used when dementia has more than one cause. For example a person may have both Alzheimer’s disease and Vascular dementia.

Other less common causes of dementia are:

• Huntington’s disease
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
• AIDS related dementia
• Korsakoffs Syndrome

People with learning disabilities have a higher risk of developing dementia.

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