Types of dementia

There are over 100 different types of illnesses and symptoms that can be described as dementia. What they all have in common is that they damage brain cells, preventing the brain from working as well as it should.

The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Other common types include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia.

Mixed dementia is when more than one type of dementia is present. If you develop dementia before the age of 65, this is known as young or younger onset dementia.

Rarer types of dementia include:

• Korsakoff’s syndrome
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and cognitive problems
• Parkinson’s disease with dementia
• HIV associated dementia and AIDS dementia complex
• Posterior Cortical Atrophy
• CADASIL

Learn more about rarer types of dementia

Alzheimer’s is a specific disease in the brain that will eventually cause dementia. Dementia is a collective term for a number of conditions with shared symptoms.

While it is a mistake to assume the two terms are interchangeable, this likely happens because Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.

Many types of dementia share similar symptoms such as memory loss and difficulties with day-to-day tasks, language and problem-solving. That said, everyone with dementia is different, and how the illness affects you will depend on which area of the brain is damaged.

Some forms of dementia have less common symptoms. An example of this would be hallucinations experienced in dementia with Lewy bodies.

Parkinson’s disease is not a type of dementia. However, the clumps of protein that form inside brain cells that cause Parkinson’s are very similar to those that cause dementia with Lewy bodies. Additionally, a significant number of people with Parkinson’s go on to develop dementia.