I think that some people use the term Alzheimers, because most people will know what they mean. And using the term dementia confuses a lot of people.
I know that years ago, before I was introduced, I had a friend whose mother was in a nursing home. She would correct me if I said Alzheimers and say it was dementia. For years, I didn't really understand what she meant. Now, I suppose that her mother had some other illness causing the dementia, such as Vascular Dementia or Lewy Bodies.
Bonnie, to add to what has already been said, Alzheimer's is one type of dementia. Dementia is the heading and Alzheimer's, Lewy Body, vascular, etc. are the subcategories.
Dementia means that two or more brain functions are seriously impaired. Dementia results from damage in the brain. The exact nature of that damage determines the kind of impairments. The nature of that damage also determines what it is called.
A little over a hundred years ago a researcher named Alzheimer identified certain kinds of brain damage that looked like tangles and plaques in persons who had certain kinds of mental impairment. Today we call this combination of damage in the brain "Alzheimer's Disease." About 60% of persons who have dementia have this kind of damage.
Other kinds of dementia are the result of other kinds of damage. My husband did not have tangles and plaques in his brain -- instead he had units of a misformed protein called "Lewy bodies" after the researcher who identified them. People with this kind of damage are said to have Dementia with Lewy Bodies or Parkinson's Disease with Dementia.
There are about 50 kinds of dementia altogether.
So if someone has Alzheimer's Disease they definitely have dementia. But not everyone who has dementia has the Alzheimer's type.
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I know that years ago, before I was introduced, I had a friend whose mother was in a nursing home. She would correct me if I said Alzheimers and say it was dementia. For years, I didn't really understand what she meant. Now, I suppose that her mother had some other illness causing the dementia, such as Vascular Dementia or Lewy Bodies.
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A little over a hundred years ago a researcher named Alzheimer identified certain kinds of brain damage that looked like tangles and plaques in persons who had certain kinds of mental impairment. Today we call this combination of damage in the brain "Alzheimer's Disease." About 60% of persons who have dementia have this kind of damage.
Other kinds of dementia are the result of other kinds of damage. My husband did not have tangles and plaques in his brain -- instead he had units of a misformed protein called "Lewy bodies" after the researcher who identified them. People with this kind of damage are said to have Dementia with Lewy Bodies or Parkinson's Disease with Dementia.
There are about 50 kinds of dementia altogether.
So if someone has Alzheimer's Disease they definitely have dementia. But not everyone who has dementia has the Alzheimer's type.
Does that help?
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/alzheimers-disease-dementia-warning-signs-144253.htm