Dementia is the clinical syndrome characterized by acquired losses of cognitive abilities severe enough to interfere with daily functioning and the quality of life. More than 50 illnesses, some nonprogressive, can cause dementia. The etiologies of dementia may be grouped as follows:neurodegenerative illnesses, vascular causes, space occupying lesions, traumatic causes, toxic causes, infectious diseases, and metabolic imbalances. Because all types of dementia are treatable, at least with psychosocial interventions, accurate diagnosis is essential to determine the appropriate treatment and to provide information about prognosis, possible genetic risks, and health care planning to the patient and family. This article will review several etiological illnesses of dementia which may be faced frequently by general psychiatrists.
Communicable Diseases ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dementia* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Psychiatry ; Quality of Life

Frontotemporal dementia is a common cause of dementia and distinguished from Alzheimer's disease. Because its clinical symptoms are characterized by slow progressive social breakdown and change of personality before cognitive impairments become prominent, it may be diagosed as other psychiatric disease. We have presented three cases of frontotemporal dementia. They had typical clinical histories and symptoms which deserve to be considered frontotemporal dementia. They showed appropriate findings of frontotemporal dementia in the neuropsychological tests and brain imaging study with brain magnetic resonance imaging and 18F-FDG positron emission tomography. Their clinical histories and findings are thought to be helpful for clinician to give attention to and diagnose frontotemporal dementia.
Alzheimer Disease ; Brain ; Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Frontotemporal Dementia* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuroimaging ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Positron-Emission Tomography