The term dementia is an “umbrella” under which various types are found. The most common type of dementia is the Alzheimer's disease (65% of patients with dementia), while 15% of the cases are due to vascular lesions of the brain (vascular dementia). There are types of dementia caused by depositions of pathological substances in the brain such as the Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia and, lastly, dementia types that accompany various degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease.
In several cases, a period of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is preceded, which is characterized by a subjective and objective disorder of the mental functions, without meeting the criteria for diagnosing dementia and without affecting the daily functioning of the individual. A percentage of these patients will go on clinical dementia in the next few years, with a rate of about 10% per year.
For this reason, it is considered necessary to correctly diagnose the disease, as the different types of dementia have different symptoms and respond differently to the existing therapies.