REVIEW

Dementia is a progressive, irreversible disease characterized by cognitive decline. This is a growing social problem, especially in an aging society. The classification of dementia includes Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, and mixed dementia. In 2019, 271,998 people died from dementia, and Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death. However, the pathophysiology of this disease is complex and not fully understood. It is a multifactorial disease whose pathogenesis involves a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. One of the genes involved in the pathogenesis of the disease is the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, which is one of the most common risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. The importance of other genes, such as the presenilin genes (PSEN1 and PSEN2), TREM2 gene, MAPT gene, and APP gene, which are associated with various forms of dementia, is also emphasized. Another problem is the growing number of identified genetic variants of genes involved in the onset of dementia. Chemical changes in the brain, such as the accumulation of abnormal excitotoxic proteins, varying degrees of inflammation, and metabolic disorders, also characterize dementia diseases. The article aims to summarize current discoveries in the field of dementia and highlight the importance of molecular factors in its pathogenesis. Understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of dementia may allow for faster diagnosis of the disease and the development of more effective patient care plans.

​

Keywords:   Dementia, neurocognitive disorder, mental disorder, mental decay and deterioration

​

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest

 

This article belongs to the Special IssueThis article belongs to the Special Issue

                             Dementia in Neurological Disorders

Lead Editor:   

                             Prof. Jolanta Dorszewska, DSc, PhD
                             Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Neurology
                             Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland
                             email: dorszewskaj@yahoo.com

​

Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Neural Press.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the CC BY 4.0 license.