Different types of dementia

Korsakoff syndrome is a rare form of progressive dementia which is caused by a deficiency of Vitamin B-1. People with Korsakoff syndrome tend to struggle to retain new information, and may have long-term memory gaps. Their social and thinking skills tend to remain unaffected in spite of this. It is most commonly found in people who have a history of alcohol misuse. It can also be caused by other conditions such as cancer, AIDS, or poor nutrition.

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PNP) is a type of rare dementia which leads to difficulties with balance, mobility, swallowing, language and vision. As a progressive form of dementia, the symptoms become worse over time. PNP is caused by damage to brain cells because of the protein ‘tau’ building up in the brain.

Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a rare type of dementia that is most often found in people aged 50 to 70. The symptoms of CBD include difficulty balancing, tremors, muscle stiffness and difficulty controlling a limb on one side of the body e.g. not being able to voluntarily move a hand. CBD is also caused by damage to brain cells due to the build up of a protein called 'tau'. 

Huntington’s disease is a rare inherited condition that causes dementia. It tends to be diagnosed in people aged 30-45, and the first symptoms are usually difficulty with movement. Other symptoms include memory lapses, difficult swallowing, and severe mood swings. Huntington’s disease dementia is caused by a faulty gene that leads to gradual damage to the brain.

Niemann-Pick disease type C is a condition that can lead to dementia, particularly in people who are diagnosed in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood. People are usually diagnosed with Niemann-Pick disease type C dementia after showing symptoms of poor memory, poor concentration and communication difficulty. Niemann-Pick disease is caused by an inherited inability to break down fats, which causes them to accumulate in cells - including those in the brain.

Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a rare type of dementia that is found mainly in older people. The hallmarks of NPH are decline in processing speed, forgetfulness, and an unusual walking style as though a person was “on a boat”: with feet spread wide, and body bent forward. As the condition deteriorates, urinary incontinence is another common symptom. Normal pressure hydrocephalus is caused by an excess of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.

Parkinson’s disease dementia is a rare form of dementia that occurs in people with Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is caused by lewy bodies in the brain – which affect the parts of the brain that are responsible for movement. As the condition develops, the changes to the brain start to affect memory, concentration and the ability to think through tasks.

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a type of dementia that shares a lot of similarities with Alzheimer’s disease, but occurs in a different part of the brain: the cortex (outer layer). It most commonly is diagnosed in people aged 50 to 65. The symptoms vary a lot from person to person, but it is common for a person with PCA to struggle to process visual information e.g. reading, estimating distances, handling objects. 

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a prion disease that causes a type of dementia that worsens unusually fast. Common symptoms of CJD are problems with memory, mood swings and low mood, confusion, and muscle stiffness. Prion diseases cause proteins in the body to fold into abnormal shapes. In this case of CJD, misfolded proteins in the brain cause damage to the function of brain cells.