ABSTRACT
Dementia is common and places a tremendous burden on patients, their careers and society. This burden will only increase as our society ages. There are approximately 700 000 people with dementia in the UK today, a number forecast to double within a generation. Forty-two per cent of the UK population are affected by dementia by knowing a friend or family member with the condition. In spite of this, dementia attracted remarkably little scientific resource. Dementia must be distinguished from acute confusional states and psychiatric disorders. The term ‘acute confusional state’ refers to a neuro-behavioral disorder characterized by an acute change in mental status, fluctuation and deficits in attention. Cortical dementias typically cause selective changes in memory function or other focal cognitive domains in the early stages, depending on the main site of pathology. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration is a term used to describe the clinical features of a group of neurodegenerative disorders affecting the frontal and/or temporal lobes.
