The History and Use of the Term Dementia

The development of the dementia concept in 19th century

“…Dementia, for him, was a state of mental weakening without delirium/hallucination and the main disorder was a general weakening of mental faculties: "growing incapacity for any deep emotion, loss of memory and loss of the power to reproduce ideas, fast forgetting for the latest events or those ones that took place during the demential state, but not infrequently with preservation of older memories related to a distant past; complete remissions never happen". Griesinger supported a modified form of the unitary psychoses concept, in which mania, mel- ancholy and dementia were the three consecutive degrees of the same basic insanity 3,9 . Hoffbauer defended the existence of two bigger groups of dementia: the first characterized as a chronic condition and more irreversible (Blodsinn) and the second described as acute and reversible (Dummheit).…”

“…Hoffbauer defended the existence of two bigger groups of dementia: the first characterized as a chronic condition and more irreversible (Blodsinn) and the second described as acute and reversible (Dummheit). The chronic group was subdivided into senile dementia (incurable) and secondary dementia, corresponding to the French vesanic dementia, that is, a final deleterious stage in many mental disorders 9,10 . Kraft-Ebing was concerned about making the difference between mental disease and senile dementia.…”

“…Kraft-Ebing was concerned about making the difference between mental disease and senile dementia. He supported that senile dementia rarely took place before the age of 65 years old, and also that the genetic factors and external causes were not more important as triggers than the natural modifications of ageing like poor brain nutrition, anemia, atherosclerotic disease and cortical cells degeneration 3,9 .…”

“…Kraepelin separated praecox dementia (today schizophrenia) from other forms of dementia (paralitica and organic), a decision that helped a lot in a better definition of the dementia concept, making it more restrictive, less general 3,9 .…”

Alzheimer's disease: A conceptual history

“…History of the notion of dementia At the end of the nineteenth century the term 'dementia' was used to name any state of psychological dilapidation associated with chronic brain disease (Guiraud, 1943;Blumer, 1907); traditionalists included within this term deficit states related to the functional psychoses, hence irreversibility was not considered as a criterion (Berrios, 1987;Marie, 1906). When dementia states occurred in the elderly they were called 'senile dementia', and had been so since the beginning of the century.…”