What Causes ‘Alzheimer’s Disease’ and How Is It Different from Dementia?

Imagine your brain is like a city full of workers who help you remember things. In Alzheimer’s disease, some of the most important workers, called amyloid and tau, start making mistakes and building roadblocks that confuse everyone in the city. Over time, the city gets quieter and less busy, and people forget more and more things.

What Is Dementia?

Dementia is like a general slowdown of the brain. It can be caused by many different problems, not just Alzheimer’s. Sometimes it feels like your brain has forgotten its way home.

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. Imagine your brain is like a library, when you have Alzheimer’s disease, some important books start getting lost or covered with dust, making it harder to find the right information.
  2. It's like when you forget where you left your keys, but over time, you lose track of your whole house and even who you are.
  3. Dementia is like a fog that makes everything seem blurry, Alzheimer’s is one kind of fog that comes from inside the brain.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity