Dementia is an increasingly frequent condition that affects hundreds of people across the globe, and Malta is no exception. Unfortunately, the illness is often misunderstood, making it quite difficult for a family to handle and assist a dementia suffer who, in the vast majority of cases, is older persons.
Dementia is a condition in which there is a serious deterioration in a person’s intellectual ability and emotional state. It can be due to a number of different causes and the treatment and progression of the illness vary according to the cause. The two common causes of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease, which occurs in 60 per cent of persons with dementia and vascular dementia which occurs in 20 per cent – 30 per cent of the persons with dementia.