Abstract
It is well established that dementia is the most common organic disorder of neurological and psychological function in the elderly. The present report, therefore, deals with the definition, classification, causative disease and recent problems of dementia. It then describes clinical symptoms of dementia due to cerebrovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease, the diagnosis and treatment, and the method for nursing and care. The report also introduces the clinical symptoms of ‘false dementia (depression)’ and ‘deliriant’, which are often confused with those of dementia. In order to achieve further understanding of dementia, the method for distinguishing dementia from those diseases is described along with the representative evaluation scales for dementia, depression, and deliriant.
