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Advanced Dementia. 1  Advanced dementia is a leading cause of death in the United States. 2  Features include profound memory deficits (e.g., inability to recognize family), minimal verbal communication, loss of ambulatory abilities, the inability to perform activities of daily living, and urinary and fecal incontinence.
Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of cases. Vascular dementia, which occurs after a stroke, is the second most common dementia type. But there are many other conditions that can cause symptoms of dementia, including some that are reversible, such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies. Dementia is often incorrectly referred to as senility or senile dementia, which reflects the formerly widespread but incorrect belief that serious mental decline is a normal part of aging.