The 5 Differences Between Amnesia and Dementia (Explained)

Humans are a feat of biological evolution for many reasons. The list of physiological attributes and mental abilities that have allowed us to become, for better and for worse, the dominant species on the planet is practically endless. But we will agree that of all the capacities that make us human, memory is one of the most important.

What would become of us without this ability to store memories for a lifetime? Memory is one of the essential capacities that constitute our nature. And so much so that one of the greatest human fears is losing her. May our memories and experiences fade from our memory.

Thus, all those clinical conditions that, due to their neurological impact, can cause a more or less serious loss of memory, generate fear among people. And, as always, where there is fear, there is ignorance. Therefore, it is not surprising that there is, on a social level, a confusion between two concepts that we incorrectly consider as synonyms: amnesia and dementia.

In this context and with the desire to answer any questions you may have about this topic. in today's article we are going to define the clinical bases of amnesia and dementia, seeing where they are similar and, of course, where they are different. Let us begin.

What is amnesia? What about dementia?

Before going into depth and presenting the main differences between the two concepts in the form of key points, it is interesting (and also important) that we put ourselves in context and define, individually, what these two clinical conditions consist of. So let's define what amnesia is and what is dementia.

Amnesia - what is it?

Amnesia is a disorder that involves partial or total loss of memory, that is, the ability to remember events or experiences that occurred in the past. It is, therefore, a deficit in the brain's memory functioning mechanism that causes partial or complete inability of the ability to retrieve or preserve information.

In this context, amnesia, rather than causing a loss of identity, because even though it is a feature of films, it manifests itself with the difficulty of generating new memories, incorporating new information, recovering previous memories or of rescue information that was previously familiar to us.

In the vast majority of cases, the affected memory is short-term. That is, memories that are more distant and rooted in short-term memory are not lost, but problems come when it comes to retaining new information and recovering recent memories. A person with amnesia may not be able to tell you what they had for breakfast today, but they will be able to tell you what they had for breakfast on the day of their first communion, for example.

But beyond this memory impairment, there is no damage to other cognitive abilities. This is key. Amnesia does not affect orientation, speech, social skills, intelligence, attention span, personality, or consciousness. Thus, amnesia is a disorder limited solely and exclusively to memory.

And when it comes to causes, as there are many regions of the brain linked to memory, there are many different brain damages that can lead to this amnesia, the main causes being the following: encephalitis, hypoxia, alcohol abuse, cerebrovascular accident, development of brain tumors, use of certain drugs, seizures, neurodegenerative diseases and brain trauma, although the latter generally do not lead to permanent amnesia, only the most serious injuries. Even the strongest emotional shocks can cause temporary amnesia.

Even so, In the most severe cases, this amnesia may be permanent and lost memories cannot be recovered.. Therefore, there are times when this amnesia, which varies greatly in scope and severity, can cause problems in personal and professional life. In these cases, the person can resort to occupational therapy to train memory, learn new information and make use of technological assistance to compensate for this condition.

Dementia: what is it?

Dementia is a loss of brain function due to the development of a neurodegenerative disease. It is, therefore, a clinical condition linked to damage to the brain due to the degeneration of brain neurons, causing the person to see affected not only their memory, but also reasoning, coordination, control of emotions, thinking, social skills, understanding, speaking, orientation, etc.

In this sense, dementia affects physical, cognitive, behavioral and social skills, in addition to the impact on psychological health, with the possibility of developing depression, anxiety and paranoia. Memory loss is just one of the many symptoms that develop when a patient develops dementia. Some patients who almost always (it is very rare for it to develop before the age of 60) are elderly.

In fact, dementia is the leading cause of disability in the elderly. Between 65 and 70 years of age, the incidence is 2%, but among those older than 80 years, this incidence increases to 20%. And if there are 50 million cases of dementia in the world, it is estimated that up to 70% could be due to Alzheimer's.

It is not the only cause of dementia (this can also be due to Huntington's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia or Pick's disease, among others), but it is true that Alzheimer's is the main one. And we are facing a neurodegenerative disease in which a slow but continuous, progressive and irreversible deterioration of brain neurons is observed, a situation that is responsible for the symptoms of dementia and, ultimately, when the brain can no longer maintain stable vital functions , of the death of the patient.

Thus, despite the fact that dementia is not a disease as such nor is it directly responsible for the death of the person, the neurodegenerative pathologies associated with it, as they have no cure and lead to progressive and irreversible brain damage, end up being responsible for the person's death in a more or less long period of time, which can range from 3 years to 20 years from diagnosis. Current treatments and medications, although there is no cure, can, at least, temporarily improve the symptoms of dementia so that the person can maintain their autonomy for as long as possible.

How are amnesia and dementia different?

After analyzing both concepts in depth, surely the differences between them have become more than clear. Even so, in case you need (or simply want) to have the information with a more visual nature, we have prepared the following selection of the main differences between amnesia and dementia in the form of key points. Let's go there.

1. In amnesia, memory is the only impaired cognitive function; in dementia, there is more

Without a doubt, the most important difference. In amnesia, the only cognitive function that is lost is memory, that is, the ability to incorporate new information and / or to retrieve memories. What's more, the memory that is usually lost is short-term, so the most distant memories and rooted in long-term memory, usually remain intact.

On the other hand, in dementia, it is not only that due to neurodegeneration, long-term memory is also lost, forgetting the most distant and most ingrained memories, but many other cognitive abilities are altered: understanding, orientation, speech, reasoning, thinking, coordination, control of emotions ...

2. Dementia is the cause of a neurodegenerative disease; amnesia, not always

As we say, the cause behind dementia itself (that which is progressive and irreversible) develops as a consequence of a neurodegenerative disease, that is, due to neuronal damage that slowly but continuously accumulates in the brain, being Alzheimer's the main cause behind this dementia.

In the case of amnesia, although it can also develop due to a neurodegenerative disorder, it has, as its main causes, other situations: head trauma and strong emotional shocks (usually to a transitory amnesia), encephalitis, tumor development, hypoxia, alcohol abuse, cerebrovascular accident, consumption of certain medications, seizures and, ultimately, any injury that affects the areas of the brain associated with memory, without the need for a neurodegeneration that we do observe in dementia.

3. Amnesia can be reversible; dementia, no

As we say, amnesia, although there are permanent cases, can be transitory, that is, with a loss of temporary memory from which we recover. On the other hand, dementia is always irreversible, as it is associated with neurodegeneration that, in between 50% and 70% of cases, has its main cause in Alzheimer's disease.

4. Dementia is associated with aging; amnesia, no

Dementia is linked to neurodegenerative diseases, which develop in old age. It is very rare for a disease like Alzheimer's to show symptoms before the age of 65. On the other hand, amnesia, seeing its causes, we can realize that it is not associated with old age, since these can be triggered at any age.

5. Dementia is more serious than amnesia

From everything we have seen, it is clear that, although there may be severe cases of amnesia, in general terms, dementia is a more severe condition than amnesia, since being associated with neurodegenerative disorders, the impact on cognitive abilities, physical abilities, motor functions, social behavior, etc., goes much deeper. In addition, this progressive and irreversible neurodegeneration typical of dementia ends up causing the death of the person.