At what age does senile dementia usually occur?

Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
Updated on April 10, 2025
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It is generally believed that elderly people over the age of 65 are at a significantly increased risk of dementia, and the prevalence is even higher among those over 80. However, there are exceptions, as some individuals may experience cognitive decline around the age of 50, which requires extra attention. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, a typical neurodegenerative disorder where various factors lead to the degeneration and death of neurons. Initially, patients mainly exhibit a decline in short-term memory functions, often mistaken for simple forgetfulness, resulting in a failure to seek diagnosis and treatment.

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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symptoms of senile dementia

The symptoms of dementia mainly include the following aspects: First, there is evident impairment in cognitive functions, primarily involving memory decline. Initially, it may predominantly affect recent memory, with patients often forgetting recent events. As the disease progresses, they may start forgetting events from the distant past as well. Additionally, patients may experience a decline in calculation skills, judgment, execution, and comprehension abilities; their capacity to learn and work is comprehensively impaired. Spatial dysfunction can also occur, causing disorientation and frequent episodes of getting lost. Secondly, in the later stages, patients may display changes in behavior and personality, alongside corresponding psychological symptoms. For example, the patient might become aggressive, restless, and exhibit hallucinations visually and auditorily. Wandering at night is another common symptom. Thirdly, in the later stages, patients might show clinical signs such as muscle atrophy and paralysis. Incontinence is also a common symptom.

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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Causes of Alzheimer's Disease in the Elderly

The causes of dementia in the elderly are not currently completely clear. Dementia in the elderly is mainly divided into familial and sporadic types. Familial dementia shows autosomal dominant inheritance, which is caused by a gene mutation on chromosome 21 leading to the accumulation of some toxins, resulting in the death of neurons and causing dementia fundamentally due to genetic mutations. However, most cases of dementia are sporadic and do not have a clear family history. The mechanisms and reasons for disease onset are not particularly clear. Some believe that abnormalities in cerebral vascular function may lead to neuronal cell functional disorders, resulting in decreased ability to clear certain cell toxins, thus leading to neuronal apoptosis and death, and consequently impaired cognitive functions. In addition, factors such as oxidative stress, inflammatory mechanisms, excessive fatigue, and emergency stress may also cause cell death. Overall, the causes of dementia in the elderly are not particularly clear.

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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incidence of senile dementia

Dementia in the elderly has a very noticeable high incidence trend worldwide and in China, with many people over the age of 65 suffering from this disease. Statistics show that in Western countries, the incidence of dementia in the elderly might be around 3%-8%. In China, the incidence among the elderly over 65 may also be around 5%. Therefore, the number of elderly people suffering from this disease is very large, and thus it is essential to pay attention to this disease. This disease is mainly caused by the death of nerve cells due to many reasons. Currently, there is no effective cure for this disease, but there are some drugs that can alleviate the symptoms. These drugs mainly include cholinesterase inhibitors, which can increase the content of acetylcholine in the brain, improving the level of cognitive function in patients. Additionally, symptomatic treatment should be noted to prevent lung infections, malnutrition, and other complications in the elderly.

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Neurology
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Determination of Senile Dementia

The assessment of dementia primarily encompasses three aspects: The first aspect mainly involves relevant neurological scales, which can scientifically and effectively measure the cognitive functions of elderly patients. These scales include the MSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) and the MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment). The second aspect of the assessment involves some imaging tests, mainly cranial MRI scans. Cranial MRI can determine if there is brain atrophy in the elderly and examine for any related lesions in the temporal lobes and hippocampi. The third major aspect involves the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid, assessing the levels of amyloid proteins, which also play an important role in the assessment of dementia. In summary, the assessment of dementia primarily involves evaluations using neurological scales, cranial MRI, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis.

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early signs of dementia

Dementia in the elderly, mainly referring to Alzheimer's disease, is primarily characterized by a significant decline in the patient's memory and learning abilities. Of course, there are some prodromal symptoms before the onset of dementia. For example, patients might show no clinical signs of cognitive impairment or only display very slight memory decline. Patients might exhibit mild impairment in memory, a decrease in the ability to learn and retain new information, and mild impairments in other cognitive areas such as attention, executive function, language skills, and visuospatial abilities. However, these impairments are very slight and can go unnoticed by family members. Moreover, these mild impairments do not affect the patient's basic daily life abilities and do not reach the level of dementia. Patients can live independently and manage their routine daily tasks, which are mainly some of the early signs of dementia.