DEMENTIA: A NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDER

Dementia is a cognitive decline which interferes with normal psychological functioning and behavioral patterns. Dementia is as a group of neurodegenerative diseases, which affects about 1 to 4% of the world’s population over 65 years old. Several aetiologies are involved in the pathogenesis of dementia. Patient suffering or suffered from cardiovascular diseases (like hypertension, hypercholesteremia, diabetes, cerebral ischemia, and stroke) and neurodegenerative disorders are more vulnerable to dementia. Other factors like alcohol consumption and smoking further exacerbate this neurodegenerative disorder. Most common forms of dementia are Alzheimer’s dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia and dementia with Lewy body. Alzheimer’s dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies are more common in the elderly. Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s dementia (AD), which may precipitate as a result of long term CVS diseases. Semantic dementia involves a progressive decline in semantic memory (knowledge of objects, people, concepts and words). In Lewy body dementia (LBD), aggregation of α-synuclein inhibits the neuronal development and plays a major role in the disease pathogenesis. Frontotemporal dementia represents a positive family history and displays a distinctive model of early injury to anterior cingulate and frontoinsular cortex. This review, also signifies the detoxication role of glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidize (GPx), and catalase (Cat) during oxidative stress and discuss the association of mitochondrial dysfunctioning in the pathogenesis of different diseases, which eventually leads to dementia. The aim of this review is, to study types, risk factors involved, understand the underlying mechanisms in the pathogenesis of dementia and new therapeutic approaches, thus maximize opportunities for the search for new and effective therapeutic strategies.