Abstract
Dementia is characterized by a decline in cognition, behavioral disturbances, and
interference with daily functioning and independence. Diagnosis is sometimes delayed
as patients or family members often misattribute obvious manifestations of cognitive
decline to normal aging rather than to the onset of a degenerative disease. Many physicians
do not perform mental status examinations or do not use them effectively to detect
early symptoms. Clinical markers are available to decrease the difficulty in distinguishing
dementia from depression and confusional states such as delirium. Alzheimer’s disease
(AD) is the most common form of dementia; others include rapidly progressive dementias,
dementias associated with strokes and Parkinson’s disease, and frontotemporal dementias.
Often, AD coexists with other forms of dementia. Sensitivity to early warning signs,
interviews with family members, and mental status examinations are essential to early
detection of AD, and will prove useful to primary-care physicians who care for older
patients.
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Published online: August 16, 2004
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© 1998 Excerpta Medica Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
