As a person ages, he tends to forget things like eyeglasses or house keys but if you are having memory loss which affects you in performing your routine activities in daily life then you might have dementia.

Dementia is loss of mental skills which can badly affect your normal activities. It usually create problems with how remember things and how you perceive and plan things. Normally, dementia progresses over time but the progress of dementia varies from one person to another.

There are people who eventually loose their skills in just short time while there are some who develop the symptoms for years.

The main cause of dementia is the physical changes which happens in the brain as the person ages that is why the risk factor of having dementia increases as a person gets older but not all persons who ages will have dementia. Generally, most adults really never get dementia while there are some who develop memory loss when they reach 85 years of age.

The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease but aside from Alzheimer's, there are other forms of dementia, these may include vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, mixed dementia and dementia with Lewy Bodies.

Aside from aging, other factors that may cause dementia are depression, thyroid problems, and certain types of drugs, excessive intake of alcohol or vitamins deficiency. These factors are can be treated and if they are treated properly, there is increase chances that dementia can be cured as well.

If you know someone who has chronic memory loss, you have to consult your physician before dementia really progresses.