Dementia is a term for a group of symptoms. In other words, its a
similar term to pain, fever, rash, etc. It describes an aspect of what
is going on with the person - cognitive impairment, confusion, memory
issues, etc.

However, it doesn't describe the underlying cause of what is going on.
So....it isn't an actual diagnosis, any more than saying a child has a
fever tells anyone WHY the kid is unwell.

Uusually when someone gets taken to the doctor and the word dementia
gets used, the family already KNOWS the person is confused, so thanks
Doc, thats great, we figured that part out....now, why is this
happening, what is the cause of the dementia and what can be done about
it?

You can develop dementia from strokes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, from
an injury, infections, thyroid problems, B12 problems, poor diet, drug
side effects, drinking, low oxygen, Huntingtons, mad cow, and about a
zillion billion other things - so it DOES matter what the underlying
cause is (i.e. the real diagnosis), because that will tell you if it
might be treatable, reversable, curable - or even slowed down!

If a doctor ever says senile dementia to you in reference to a loved
one, time to get a referral to specialist who knows what they are
talking about - and if it was me, I'd ditch the original doc for a new
primpary care physician who was more on the ball.

M.