Insights of Dementia in Persons With Intellectual Disability

Abstract

Intellectual disability and dementia are age-dependent terms for a cognitive impair occurring during developmental age and in adulthood, respectively. Intellectually disabled people like any other people may develop dementia in adulthood. Thus, clinicians should learn to differentiate dementia-indicating signs from intellectual disability related cognitive deficiencies for an early diagnosis and treatment onwards. In intellectual disability, intellectual and adaptive skills of an individual are two standard deviations below the expected age-matched population, and dementia is characterized by a progressive cognitive decline. The cause of both disorders can be genetic, acquired or multifactorial. An increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in Down syndrome is well known unlike the development of dementia in other intellectual disability syndromes. This commentary discusses 1) how the dementia indicating signs present in intellectually disabled persons, 2) why it is important to distinguish dementia (and its causes) from intellectual disability and 3) why it is important to know the etiology of intellectual disability