Clear answers about dementia and caregiving
Practical help for the day to day, and plain explanations of the medical side. Every article is written for families and backed by trusted sources.
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Understanding dementia
What dementia is, its types, and what causes it.
4 articles
Symptoms, early signs & diagnosis
Spotting early signs and how dementia is diagnosed.
5 articles
Genetics & risk
Family history, inherited risk, and what you can control.
3 articles
Stages, progression & life expectancy
How dementia progresses and what to expect over time.
1 article
Prevention & brain health
What the evidence says about reducing risk.
Coming soon
Caregiving & daily life
Practical, lived-experience help for day-to-day care.
8 articlesAll articles
What are the 7 stages of dementia?
The 7 stages of dementia come from the Global Deterioration Scale, which maps decline from no impairment (stage 1), through very mild and mild changes, to moderate and severe dementia (stages 6 and 7). Many clinicians use a simpler early, middle, and late model, but both describe the same overall path.
Caregiver burnout: what are the signs, and how do you cope?
Caregiver burnout is deep exhaustion from prolonged stress. Warning signs include constant tiredness, irritability, sleep problems, pulling away from friends, and neglecting your own health. It is common and not a failure. The way through is regular breaks, accepting help, respite care, and support from others.
What conditions can look like dementia but are reversible?
Several treatable conditions cause dementia-like memory and thinking problems, including depression, medication side effects, thyroid trouble, vitamin B12 deficiency, infections, and delirium. Because some are reversible, new confusion should always be medically assessed, not assumed to be dementia.
What do you do when someone with dementia won't eat or bathe?
Refusing food or washing is usually about fear, discomfort, or loss of control, not stubbornness. Offer simple choices, break the task into small steps, keep a calm routine, and pick the person's best time of day. Small, familiar meals and a warm, private bathroom make a real difference.
Is dementia the same as Alzheimer's?
No. Dementia is an umbrella term for symptoms like memory loss and confusion that interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's is a specific brain disease, and the most common cause of dementia, behind an estimated 60 to 80 percent of cases. All Alzheimer's is dementia, but not all dementia is Alzheimer's.
What are the early signs of dementia?
Early signs of dementia go beyond ordinary forgetfulness: memory loss that disrupts daily life, trouble planning or solving problems, difficulty with familiar tasks, confusion about time or place, new problems with words, misplacing things, and changes in judgment or mood. If several appear and get worse, see a doctor.
How do you handle aggression in someone with dementia?
Aggression in dementia is almost always a reaction to an unmet need, pain, fear, or confusion, not something deliberate. Keep yourself safe, stay calm, avoid arguing, and look for what triggered it. Rule out pain first, since it is one of the most common hidden causes.
How do you respond when someone with dementia asks the same question over and over?
When someone with dementia repeats a question, they have genuinely forgotten asking it, and the question often carries a feeling like worry or insecurity. Answer briefly and calmly, reassure the feeling underneath, and gently redirect to an activity. Avoid saying "you already asked me that."
If my parent has dementia, will I get it too?
Probably not just because of them. A parent with Alzheimer's raises your risk compared with someone without that history, but most children of people with dementia never develop it. For the common late-onset form, age and lifestyle matter more than family history.
Is dementia hereditary?
For most people, dementia is not directly inherited. Having a parent or sibling with Alzheimer's raises your risk somewhat, but genes are only one factor alongside age and lifestyle. Rare single-gene forms that are strongly inherited do exist, but they account for a small share of all cases.
What is the difference between mild cognitive impairment and dementia?
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) means memory or thinking is worse than expected for someone's age, but they can still manage everyday life. Dementia is more severe and interferes with daily tasks and independence. MCI sometimes progresses to dementia, but many people with MCI stay stable.
Normal aging vs dementia: how do you tell the difference?
Occasional forgetfulness, like misplacing keys or blanking on a name, is a normal part of aging. Dementia is different: it disrupts daily life, gets worse over time, and affects judgment, language, or familiar tasks, not just memory. See a doctor when forgetfulness starts interfering with daily life.
Should I get genetic testing for dementia?
For most people, no. Routine genetic testing, such as the APOE gene, cannot tell you whether or when you will get dementia, so it rarely changes anything. Testing mainly makes sense when there is a strong family history of early-onset dementia, and it is best done with genetic counseling.
What are the main types of dementia?
The four most common types are Alzheimer's disease, which is by far the most common, then vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Each comes from different changes in the brain and can bring different early symptoms, and a person can have more than one at the same time.
Understanding dementia: symptoms, early signs, and getting a diagnosis
A plain-language guide to what dementia looks like early on, how it differs from normal aging and mild cognitive impairment, which conditions can mimic it, and how a diagnosis is made. Read this first, then follow the links for each question in depth.
What causes dementia?
Dementia happens when disease damages nerve cells in the brain so it can no longer work properly. Different diseases cause different types. In Alzheimer's, amyloid and tau proteins build up, and vascular dementia follows reduced blood flow. Age is the biggest risk factor, not a normal part of aging.
What is dementia?
Dementia is not one disease but a group of symptoms, memory loss, confusion, and trouble with thinking and everyday tasks, caused by diseases that damage the brain. It is severe enough to affect daily life, it is not a normal part of aging, and Alzheimer's is its most common cause.
When is it time to consider memory care?
Consider memory care when safety is at risk, when the person's needs are more than can be met safely at home, or when caregiving is seriously harming your own health. Wandering, falls, aggression, incontinence, and caregiver exhaustion are common turning points. It is a safety decision, not a failure.
Caring for someone with dementia at home: a practical guide
Caring for someone with dementia at home comes down to a few things done consistently: a steady routine, a safe space, calm communication, and support for you. This guide walks through each, with links to deeper answers on the hard moments.
How do you communicate with someone who has dementia?
Keep it simple and calm. Use short sentences with one idea at a time, approach from the front and use their name, and give plenty of time to respond. Answer the feeling behind the words rather than correcting the facts.
What is sundowning, and how do you manage it?
Sundowning is a pattern of increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation in the late afternoon and evening. You can ease it with a steady daily routine, more light during the day, less caffeine and late napping, and a calm, quiet lead-up to bedtime.