Dementia causes

Dementia Microchapters
Patient Information
Overview
Classification
Causes Alzheimer's Disease Parkinson's Disease Binswanger's Disease Dementia with Lewy bodies Thiamine deficiency Vascular dementia Marijuana abuse AIDS Neurosyphilis Normal pressure hydrocephalus Vitamin B12 deficiency Vitamin B6 deficiency
Differential Diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Causes

Common Causes

• Alcoholism
• Alzheimer's Disease
• Binswanger's Disease
• Drugs
• Multi-infarct disease
• Parkinson's Disease

Causes by Organ System

Cardiovascular	Chronic heart failure, Dural arteriovenous fistula,Subdural hematoma, Vascular dementia, Feigenbaum-Bergeron-Richardson syndrome
Chemical / poisoning	Aluminium poisoning , Benzene , Camphor , Carbon Tetrachloride , Cidofovir, Cocaine, Hydrogen Sulfide, Lead poisoning, Manganese poisoning, Marijuana abuse, Mercury poisoning, Methanol , Toluene , Xylene
Dermatologic	Dykes-Markes-Harper syndrome
Drug Side Effect	Amphetamines, Anticholinergics, Anxiolytics, Barbiturates, Bromides, Conjugated estrogens/bazedoxifene, Estropipate, Hypnotics, Nabilone, Pramipexole, Progesterone, Sedatives, Tranquilizers, Tricyclic antidepressants
Ear Nose Throat	No underlying causes
Endocrine	Alcohol-induced pseudo-Cushing syndrome , Cushing's syndrome, Hashimoto's encephalitis , Schilder's Disease , Hypothyroidism, Hyperparathyroidism, Hypoparathyroidism, Hyperthyroidism
Environmental	Decompression sickness
Gastroenterologic	Aguecheek disease , Dykes-Markes-Harper syndrome , Liver failure, Wilson's disease
Genetic	Aceruloplasminemia , Adult Polyglucosan Body Disease , Alexander Syndrome , Alpers Syndrome ,Amelo-cerebro-hypohidrotic syndrome , Batten Disease , CADASIL , Down syndrome , Familial histiocytic reticulosis, Hemochromatosis, Menke disease, Mohr-Tranebjaerg syndrome, Wilson's disease, Wolfram's disease ,Wright dick syndrome
Hematologic	Familial histiocytic reticulosis, Macrocytosis, Pernicious anemia
Iatrogenic	Aluminium (dialysis related) toxicity
Infectious Disease	Acute Bokhoror , AIDS, Borreliosis, HHV-6 encephalitis, HIV, Intracranial abscess / granuloma, Kuru, Lyme disease , Neurosyphilis , Whipple's disease
Musculoskeletal / Ortho	No underlying causes
Neurologic	Adult Polyglucosan Body Disease , Akinetic-rigid syndromes, Alexander Syndrome , Alpers Syndrome ,Alzheimer disease , Amelo-cerebro-hypohidrotic syndrome , Amyloidosis, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Autoimmune limbic encephalitis , Batten Disease , Binswanger Disease , Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , Brain tumor,CADASIL , Cerebellar ataxias, Cerebral Atrophy , Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosus , Cerebrovascular accident,Ceroid lipofuscinosis, Childhood disintegrative disorder, Choreoacanthocytosis amyotrophic , Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Dural arteriovenous fistula, Ependymoma , Fahr's Syndrome , Feigenbaum-Bergeron-Richardson syndrome ,Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, Giant axonal neuropathy , Gliomatosis cerebri , Guam disease ,Hallervorden-Spatz Syndrome , HARP syndrome, Hartnup's disease, Haw River syndrome, Heidenhain syndrome ,Huntington's disease, Hydrocephalus, Intracranial space-occupying lesion, Jensen syndrome, Juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma , Lafora disease , Leukoencephalopathy , Low press hydrocephalus, Marchiafava-Bignami disease ,MELAS , Mesulam syndrome, Metachromatic Leukodystrophy , Mitochondrial encephalopathies, Mohr-Tranebjaerg syndrome, Multiple sclerosis, Nasu-Hakola disease, Neuroaxonal dystrophy, Neuroferritinopathy, Neurosarcoidosis, Normal pressure hydrocephalus , Parkinson's disease, Pick's disease , Prion diseases, Rasmussen encephalitis, Schilder's Disease , Spinocerebellar ataxia, Shy-Drager Syndrome, Steel-Richardson Syndrome,Spongiform encephalopathy , Stroke, Subdural hematoma, Tome-Brune-Fardeau syndrome , Tuberous sclerosis, Van Bogaert disease , Van der Knaap disease, Westphal-Leyden ataxia , Wright dick syndrome
Nutritional / Metabolic	Aceruloplasminemia , Acute intermittent porphyrias, Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosus , Ceroid lipofuscinosis, Chronic hypocalcemia, Chronic hypoglycemia , Decreased folate , Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, Lysosomal storage diseases, MELAS , Menke disease, Mucopolysaccharidosis, Niacin deficiency, Niemann-Pick Disease,Nutritional deficiency ,Pellagra, Siderosis , Tay Sachs , Thiamine deficiency, Uremic encephalopathy ,Vitamin B12 deficiency, Vitamin B6 deficiency, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
Obstetric/Gynecologic	Postpartum thyroiditis
Oncologic	Brain tumor, Ependymoma , Juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma , Melanoma , Meningioma,Paraneoplastic syndromes
Opthalmologic	No underlying causes
Overdose / Toxicity	No underlying causes
Psychiatric	No underlying causes
Pulmonary	No underlying causes
Renal / Electrolyte	Kidney failure
Rheum / Immune / Allergy	Autoimmune limbic encephalitis , Sarcoid, SLE, Tuberous sclerosis, Vasculitis
Sexual	No underlying causes
Trauma	Head injury
Urologic	No underlying causes
Dental	No underlying causes
Miscellaneous	Alcohol Withdrawal , Alcoholism , Glue sniffing, Prion diseases, Punch-drunk syndrome, Post anoxia

Causes in Alphabetical Order

Aceruloplasminemia Acute Bokhoror Acute intermittent porphyrias Adrenal insufficiency Adult Polyglucosan Body Disease Aguecheek disease AIDS Akinetic-rigid syndromes Alcohol Withdrawal Alcohol-induced pseudo-Cushing syndrome Alcoholism Alexander Syndrome Alpers Syndrome Aluminium poisoning Alzheimer disease Amelo-cerebro-hypohidrotic syndrome Amphetamines Amyloidosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Autoimmune limbic encephalitis Barbiturates Batten Disease Benzene Binswanger Disease Borreliosis Bovine spongiform encephalopathy Brain tumor Bromides CADASIL Calcification of basal ganglia Camphor Carbon Tetrachloride Cerebellar ataxias Cerebral Atrophy Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosus Cerebrovascular accident Ceroid lipofuscinosis Childhood disintegrative disorder Choreoacanthocytosis amyotrophic Chronic heart failure Chronic hypocalcemia Chronic hypoglycemia Chronic obstructive lung disease Cidofovir Cocaine Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Cushing's syndrome Decompression sickness Decreased folate Down syndrome Dural arteriovenous fistula Dykes-Markes-Harper syndrome Ependymoma Fahr's Syndrome Familial histiocytic reticulosis Feigenbaum-Bergeron-Richardson syndrome Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease Gliomatosis cerebri Glue sniffing Guam disease Hallervorden-Spatz Syndrome HARP syndrome Hartnup's disease Hashimoto's encephalitis Haw River syndrome Head injury Heidenhain syndrome HHV-6 encephalitis HIV Huntington's disease Hydrocephalus Hydrogen Sulfide Hyperparathyroidism Hyperthyroidism Hypnotics Hypoparathyroidism Hypothyroidism Intracranial abscess / granuloma Intracranial space-occupying lesion Jensen syndrome

Juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma Kidney failure Kuru Lafora disease Lead poisoning Lesch-Nyhan syndrome Leukoencephalopathy Liver failure Low press hydrocephalus Lyme disease Lysosomal storage diseases Macrocytosis Manganese poisoning Marchiafava-Bignami disease Marijuana abuse Melanoma MELAS Meningioma Menke disease Mercury poisoning Mesulam syndrome Metachromatic Leukodystrophy Methanol Mitochondrial encephalopathies Mohr-Tranebjaerg syndrome Mucopolysaccharidosis Multiple sclerosis Nabilone Nasu-Hakola disease Neuroaxonal dystrophy Neuroferritinopathy Neurosarcoidosis Neurosyphilis Niacin deficiency Niemann-Pick Disease Normal pressure hydrocephalus Nutritional deficiency Paraneoplastic syndromes Parkinson's disease Pellagra Pernicious anemia Pick's disease Postanoxia Postpartum thyroiditis Prion diseases Punch-drunk syndrome Rasmussen encephalitis Sarcoid Schilder's Disease Sedatives Shy-Drager Syndrome Siderosis SLE Spinocerebellar ataxia Spongiform encephalopathy Steel-Richardson Syndrome Stroke Subdural hematoma Tay Sachs Thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency Toluene Tome-Brune-Fardeau syndrome Tranquilizers Tricyclic antidepressants Tuberous sclerosis Uremic encephalopathy Van Bogaert disease Van der Knaap disease Vascular dementia Vasculitis Vitamin B12 deficiency Vitamin B6 deficiency Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome Westphal-Leyden ataxia Whipple's disease Wilson's disease Wolfram's disease Wright dick syndrome Xylene

Mnemonics to remember causes

Dementia: treatable causes

DEMENTIA:

• Drug toxicity
• Emotional (depression, anxiety, OCD, etc.)
• Metabolic (electrolytes, liver dz, kidney dz, COPD)
• Eyes/ Ears (peripheral sensory restrictions)
• Nutrition (vitamin, iron deficiencies/ NPH [Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus]
• Tumors/ Trauma (including chronic subdural hematoma)
• Infection (meningitis, encephalitis, pneumonia, syphilis)
• Arteriosclerosis and other vascular disease

Dementia: some common causes

DEMENTIA:

• Diabetes
• Ethanol
• Medication
• Environmental (eg CO poisoning)
• Nutritional
• Trauma
• Infection
• Alzheimer's

Dementia: reversible dementia causes

DEMENTIA:

• Drugs / Depression
• Elderly
• Multi-infarct/ Medication
• Environmental
• Nutritional
• Toxins
• Ischemia
• Alcohol