Categories: Neurology

What are the Reversible Causes of Dementia? (mnemonic)

VERY common question on internal medicine wards, and important to recognize as early as possible! The mnemonic commonly used is “DEMENTIA”

Drugs

Ears and Eyes (i.e Deafness or Blindness)

Metabolic Derangement (i.e Chronic Hypercalcemia, Hypo and hyper thyroidism, Adrenal insufficiency)

Emotional (Depression)

Nutrition (i.e B12 deficiency, also B1, B6) Normal pressure hydrocephalus

Trauma (i.e Subdural hematoma), Tumor (i.e Neoplasm or Intracranial abscess)

Infection (i.e Neurosyphilis, Encephalitis (limbic, HIV, herpes), Lyme’s disease, Whipple’s disease)

Alcohol (i.e Wernicke encephalopathy) – but also consider other recreation drug use!

REFERENCES

  1. Protocols in Primary Care Geriatrics. John P. Sloan, M.D. 2nd edition. Springer Publishing 1996
  2. Draper B. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1991 Dec; 25(4):506-18.
  3. Tripathi M, Vibha D. Reversible dementias. Journal of Psychiatry. 2009;51(Suppl1):S52-S55.
Get Medical Pearls directly to your inbox every week!
Weekly posts with high yield medical knowledge, directly to your mailbox!
Dr. C Humphreys

Internal Medicine

Recent Posts

Mechanism of a Mixed Apnea

Mixed apneas are characterized by absent respiratory effort and airflow in the first section of…

12 months ago

How Does Hypothyroidism Cause Hypoventilation?

Although rare, the differential diagnosis of hypoventilation and hypercapnia respiratory failure includes hypothyroidism. It is…

12 months ago

Why is Pro-BNP/ BNP lower in Obesity?

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a hormone created in response to cardiac wall stretch due…

1 year ago

What is Peribronchovascular Distribution on CT imaging?

A common finding described on computed tomography (CT) imaging. A disease with a peribronchovascular distribution…

2 years ago

Trapped Lung vs. Lung Entrapment

Though often used synonymously; Trapped Lung and Lung Entrapment technically describe separate entities along the…

3 years ago

Cause of Pericardial Effusion in Pulmonary Hypertension: Pathogenesis

It is not clearly understood why patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) develop pericardial effusions. However,…

3 years ago

This website uses cookies.