{"id":4126,"date":"2023-08-02T15:58:48","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/?page_id=4126"},"modified":"2026-01-13T15:19:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:19:25","slug":"what-is-dementia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/about-dementia\/what-is-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"What is dementia?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of progressive conditions that affect the brain.<\/p>\n<p>Each <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/types-of-dementia\/\">type of dementia<\/a> stops a person\u2019s brain cells (neurones) working properly in specific areas, affecting their ability to remember, think and speak.<\/p>\n<p>Doctors typically use the word \u2018\u2018dementia\u2019\u2019 to describe\u00a0common symptoms\u00a0\u2013 such as memory loss, confusion, and problems with speech and understanding \u2013 that get worse over time.<\/p>\n<p>Dementia can affect a person at any age but it\u2019s more common in people over the age of 65.<\/p>\n<p>There are many different types, subtypes and causes of dementia. The most common are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/types-of-dementia\/alzheimers-disease\/\">Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/types-of-dementia\/vascular-dementia\/\">vascular dementia<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/types-of-dementia\/dementia-with-lewy-bodies\/\">Lewy body dementia<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/types-of-dementia\/frontotemporal-dementia\/\">frontotemporal dementia<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/types-of-dementia\/mixed-dementia\/\">mixed dementia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There are currently around one million people in the UK with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/specialist-diagnosis-and-support\/how-to-get-a-diagnosis-of-dementia\/\">diagnosis of dementia<\/a> \u2013 and almost all of us will know someone living with the condition. Our dementia specialist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/how-we-can-support-you\/what-is-an-admiral-nurse\/\">Admiral Nurses<\/a> explain the facts you need to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of progressive conditions that affect the brain. Each type of dementia stops a person\u2019s brain cells (neurones) working properly in specific areas, affecting their ability to remember, think and speak. Doctors typically use the word \u2018\u2018dementia\u2019\u2019 to describe\u00a0common symptoms\u00a0\u2013 such as memory loss, confusion, and problems with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":3225,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4126","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is dementia? - Dementia UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is dementia, how to get a diagnosis and how to reduce your risk of dementia or delay it\u2019s impact.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dementiauk.org\/information-and-support\/about-dementia\/what-is-dementia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is dementia?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dementia UK is a charity that provides Admiral Nurses for families affected by dementia. 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