Depression, nutritional deficiencies, side-effects from medications and emotional distress can all produce symptoms that can be mistaken as early signs of dementia, such as communication and memory difficulties and behavioural changes.
Depressive cognitive disorders, also called pseudodementia (a term founded by Kiloh in the year 1961), is defined as the cognitive and functional impairment imitating neurodegenerative disorders caused secondary to neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Depression. The symptoms of depression are often mistaken for dementia. It is not easy to define the symptoms because many people with dementia develop signs of depression, such as feelings of low self-esteem and confidence, tearfulness and appetite, concentration and memory problems.
Signs of dementia
You're unable to recall details of recent events or conversations. You're unable to recognize or know the names of family members. You forget things or events more frequently. You have frequent pauses and substitutions when finding words.
Pseudodementia (fake dementia or fake cognitive decline) occurs when a person is so slowed down from depression or another psychiatric illness that they present as intellectually or cognitively impaired.
Patients with pseudodementia are consistently found in clinical populations. One population‐based study that recruited patients from primary care practices found depressive pseudodementia in 0.6% of people aged 65 years or older.
People with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are often misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD), psychiatric disorders, vascular dementia or Parkinson's disease. The early symptoms and the brain image are often the most helpful tools to reach the right diagnosis.
There is no one test to determine if someone has dementia. Doctors diagnose Alzheimer's and other types of dementia based on a careful medical history, a physical examination, laboratory tests, and the characteristic changes in thinking, day-to-day function and behavior associated with each type.
Although the Alzheimer's Association estimates that the number of Americans living with the disease could rise from 5 million to 16 million by 2050, researchers who studied nearly 1,000 people listed in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database found that 1 in 5 Alzheimer's cases may be misdiagnosed.
Functional cognitive disorder (FCD) is an under-recognised condition that is different from dementia. In FCD, cognitive difficulties with memory and thinking – particularly when the person can't maintain attention – are down to a problem with how the brain is working, rather than to loss of brain cells.
The main identifier between them is that pseudodementia does not cause actual degeneration in the brain, whereas true dementia does. Therefore, pseudodementia and dementia will appear differently on brain scans, despite causing very similar symptoms. The differences may also show up in testing.
This kind of dementia is caused by a buildup of cerebral spinal fluid in the brain, which puts pressure on the brain and this leads to symptoms of dementia. This is how it completely differs from Alzheimer's, which is caused by a buildup in the brain of toxic beta amyloid plaques and tau tangles.
It is common for people with dementia to experience delusions (or strongly held false beliefs), which can also take the form of paranoia. Common delusions include theft or believing loved ones are trying to harm them.
Mirroring: Often involuntarily, people with Alzheimer's disease tend to mirror the caregiver's feelings or activities at any given time. In some cases, they might follow you around and imitate your actions.
People with dementia often develop restless behaviours, such as pacing up and down, wandering out of the home and agitated fidgeting. This phase does not usually last for long.
Binswanger's disease, also known as subcortical vascular dementia, is a type of dementia that involves extensive microscopic damage to the small blood vessels and nerve fibers that make up the brain's white matter.
Frontotemporal disorders (FTD), sometimes called frontotemporal dementia, are the result of damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Many possible symptoms can result, including unusual behaviors, emotional problems, trouble communicating, difficulty with work, or difficulty with walking.
The simplest difference in the symptoms ALS and FTD is that the former affects the movement of the body while the latter affects cognitive function.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is one of the less common types of dementia. It is sometimes called Pick's disease or frontal lobe dementia. The first noticeable FTD symptoms are changes to personality and behaviour and/or difficulties with language.
The Mini-Cog test.
A third test, known as the Mini-Cog, takes 2 to 4 minutes to administer and involves asking patients to recall three words after drawing a picture of a clock. If a patient shows no difficulties recalling the words, it is inferred that he or she does not have dementia.
Administration: The examiner reads a list of 5 words at a rate of one per second, giving the following instructions: “This is a memory test. I am going to read a list of words that you will have to remember now and later on. Listen carefully. When I am through, tell me as many words as you can remember.
The main sign of mild cognitive impairment is a slight decline in mental abilities. Examples include: Memory loss: You may forget recent events or repeat the same questions and stories. You may occasionally forget the names of friends and family members or forget appointments or planned events.
The greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer's and other dementias is increasing age, but these disorders are not a normal part of aging. While age increases risk, it is not a direct cause of Alzheimer's. Most individuals with the disease are 65 and older.