PatientswithDementiacanhavedifficultieswithcognitivefunctionssuchasmemory,language,reasoning,planning,recognising,oridentifyingpeopleorobjects.
痴呆症患者可能在认知功能方面有困难，如记忆、语言、推理、计划、认知或识别人或物。
Thisdeclineisbeyondwhatmightbeexpectedfromnormalaging.Dementiacaneventuallyimpairtheabilitytocarryouteverydayactivitiessuchasdriving,householdchores,andevenpersonalcaresuchasbathing,dressing,andfeeding.
这种下降超出了正常老化的预期。痴呆症最终会损害人们进行日常活动的能力，如开车、做家务，甚至是洗澡、穿衣和喂食等个人护理。
Theprobabilityofsufferingfromdementiaincreaseswithage.Dementiamostlyoccursinthesecondhalfoflife,oftenaftertheageof65.
患痴呆症的可能性随年龄增长而增加。痴呆症通常发生在生命的后半段，通常在65岁以后。
Dementiausuallyprogressesslowly.Makinganaccuratediagnosisintheearlystagesofdementiacanthereforebedifficult.Severalvisitswithaphysicianoveracertainperiodoftimemaybeneeded.Itisimportanttoconfirmadiagnosisofdementiainorderto:
痴呆症通常进展缓慢。因此，在痴呆症的早期阶段做出准确的诊断是很困难的。可能需要在一段时间内多次去看医生。确认痴呆症的诊断是很重要的，以便:
Eliminateotherconditionsthatcancausedementia-likesymptoms,suchasdepression排除其他可能导致痴呆样症状的情况，如抑郁
Discusstreatment讨论治疗
Enablethepatienttoparticipateactivelyinplanninghisorherfuture让病人积极参与计划他或她的未来
Arrangesupportforthepatientandhis/herfamily为病人及其家人安排支援
Dementiacanbecausedbyonemedicalconditionorbymultiplemedicalproblems.Sometypesofdementiacanbecuredpartiallyor