What's new in dementia?

摘要

Dementia is a major public health issue globally, consequent upon its increasing prevalence in ageing populations and the costs, societal and financial that this will generate. A National Dementia Strategy for England has been enunciated to be implemented over the next five years, one key strand of which relates to early diagnosis and intervention. Many diseases, including vascular, structural, infectious, inflammatory, metabolic and endocrinological, and also neurodegenerative disorders, may be associated with cognitive deficits which are sometimes reversible. It therefore behoves clinicians in many specialties to have some familiarity with the diagnosis of the dementia syndrome and its principal causes.