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.
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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.
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Caregiving & daily life
Practical, lived-experience help for day-to-day care.
8 articlesSymptoms, early signs & diagnosis
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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 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.
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.
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.