Dementia

This text discusses dementing disorders and explains their differential diagnosis. Topics covered include: the boundaries between ageing and dementia; Alzheimer syndrome; vascular and subcortical dementias; and depressive dementia.

---

Dementia is defined as a global decline of cognitive functioning in clear consciousness. With the "graying" of the US population, the syndrome is being seen with increasing frequency. The different types of dementia have various causes, and it can be difficult for clincians to distinguish among these disorders. In "Dementia: Presentations, Differential Diagnosis and Nosology", V. Olga B. Emery and Thomas E. Oxman bring together a group of medical authorities - including many who have done seminal research in this field - to discuss dementing disorders and explain their differential diagnosis. The authors begin by describing the boundaries between normal aging and dementia, as well as setting forth the major concepts. They then discuss the most common dementia, Alzheimer syndrome. Subsequent chapters address vascular and subcortical dementias and depressive dementia. A final section draws conclusions and looks to the future of this subject. All the chapters present data from historical and current literature as well as from the authors' clinical experiences.
Presenting the viewpoints of many of the leading figures in a field that is becoming of increasing interest to the US medical community, this text covers much ground that has not previously been available in book format. It should be of interest to geriatricians, gerontologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and neurologists.