Dementia: A silent killer which kills millions in its wake

Abstract

WHO defines dementia as a progressive chronic syndrome characterized by deterioration of cognitive function much beyond what is observed in the normal aging process. The impairment in various levels of cognitive functions such as short and long-term memory, abstract thinking, learning capability, orientation, comprehend various tasks, language, and judgment are commonly observed in patients with dementia. Further, the situation can get worsen by loss of emotional control, social behavior, motivation, etc., and this disability makes the dependency. A detailed literature review was performed through MEDLINE, Google, PubMed, Medline, Eric, Frontiers, and other online journals using the terms “Dementia”, “Risk factors of dementia”, “its types”, “prevalence”, and “available treatments of dementia”. The present article was based on these relevant terminologies. Progressive deterioration in cognition and motor functions is an undesired consequence of dementia, which has very limited diagnostic and therapeutic options. So, its quite mandatory to discover new diagnostic techniques as well as therapeutic strategies to conquer the challenge.  Since pharmacological intervention only provides symptomatic relief, more and more non-pharmacological therapies should be invented in order to delay or prevent unhealthy aging.