What's the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's disease?

Answer From Jonathan Graff-Radford, M.D.

These terms are often used interchangeably, but they actually have different meanings. Dementia is not a specific disease. It's an umbrella term that describes a wide range of symptoms. These symptoms affect people's ability to perform everyday activities on their own. Common symptoms of dementia include:

  • A decline in memory
  • Changes in thinking skills
  • Poor judgment and reasoning skills
  • Decreased focus and attention
  • Changes in language
  • Changes in behavior

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, but it's not the only one. There are many different types and causes of dementia, including:

  • Lewy body dementia
  • Frontotemporal dementia
  • Vascular dementia
  • Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy
  • Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
  • Parkinson's disease dementia
  • Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
  • Huntington's disease
  • Mixed dementia

While dementia is a general term, Alzheimer's disease is a specific brain disease. It is marked by symptoms of dementia that gradually get worse over time. Alzheimer's disease first affects the part of the brain associated with learning, so early symptoms often include changes in memory, thinking and reasoning skills. As the disease progresses, symptoms become more severe and include confusion, changes in behavior and other challenges.

With

Jonathan Graff-Radford, M.D.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

March 13, 2024 See more Expert Answers

See also

  1. Alzheimer's sleep problems
  2. Alzheimer's: New treatments
  3. Alzheimer's 101
  4. Alzheimer's disease
  5. Alzheimer's genes
  6. Alzheimer's drugs
  7. Alzheimer's prevention: Does it exist?
  8. Alzheimer's stages
  9. Antidepressant withdrawal: Is there such a thing?
  10. Antidepressants and alcohol: What's the concern?
  11. Antidepressants and weight gain: What causes it?
  12. Antidepressants: Can they stop working?
  13. Antidepressants: Side effects
  14. Antidepressants: Selecting one that's right for you
  15. Antidepressants: Which cause the fewest sexual side effects?
  16. Anxiety disorders
  17. Atypical antidepressants
  18. Caregiver stress
  19. Clinical depression: What does that mean?
  20. Corticobasal degeneration (corticobasal syndrome)
  21. CT scan
  22. Depression and anxiety: Can I have both?
  23. Depression, anxiety and exercise
  24. What is depression? A Mayo Clinic expert explains.
  25. Depression in women: Understanding the gender gap
  26. Depression (major depressive disorder)
  27. Depression: Supporting a family member or friend
  28. Diagnosing Alzheimer's
  29. Did the definition of Alzheimer's disease change?
  30. How your brain works
  31. Intermittent fasting
  32. Lecanemab for Alzheimer's disease
  33. Male depression: Understanding the issues
  34. MAOIs and diet: Is it necessary to restrict tyramine?
  35. Marijuana and depression
  36. Mayo Clinic Minute: 3 tips to reduce your risk of Alzheimer's disease
  37. Mayo Clinic Minute: Alzheimer's disease risk and lifestyle
  38. Mayo Clinic Minute: New definition of Alzheimer's changes
  39. Mayo Clinic Minute: Women and Alzheimer's Disease
  40. Memory loss: When to seek help
  41. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
  42. MRI
  43. Natural remedies for depression: Are they effective?
  44. Nervous breakdown: What does it mean?
  45. New Alzheimers Research
  46. Pain and depression: Is there a link?
  47. Phantosmia: What causes olfactory hallucinations?
  48. Positron emission tomography scan
  49. Posterior cortical atrophy
  50. Seeing inside the heart with MRI
  51. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  52. Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
  53. Sundowning: Late-day confusion
  54. Treatment-resistant depression
  55. Tricyclic antidepressants and tetracyclic antidepressants
  56. Video: Alzheimer's drug shows early promise
  57. MRI
  58. Vitamin B-12 and depression
  59. Young-onset Alzheimer's