Management of Patients with Dementia: An Introduction

Dementia is a syndrome of cognitive impairment leading to reduced ability to carry out activities of daily living. The most common neurodegenerative dementia diseases are Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Lewy body dementia. Vascular dementia is also a common cause of dementia. The disease course is variable but is usually with an insidious onset and slowly progressive. Care for patients with dementia and the medical management of dementia disorders require a multi-professional approach which will often include a physician. Moreover, physicians outside those specialties usually involved in the diagnosis and medical management of patients with dementia are likely to treat patients with dementia, and they need to be knowledgeable about dementia. Apart from cognitive impairment, patients with dementia may have reduced insight, behavioral disturbances, a lower threshold for developing delirium and adverse reactions to pharmacological treatment, difficulties in communicating, and other issues which the physician needs to take into consideration.