Dementia and intellectual disabilities

Dementia is the loss of brain functions such as memory, thinking, and reasoning. When the brain loses some of its functions, it stops working properly. This interferes with your daily activities and makes it harder for you to do your normal activities. Dementia is caused by damage to nerve cells in the brain.

Dementia per se is not a disease. This word is used to describe a wide range of symptoms caused by various diseases or health problems. There are different types of dementia. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease.

Dementia often develops gradually over a long period of time and usually occurs in older people. However, it is not the normal state of aging. Many people do not develop dementia in old age.