Dementia is a progressive condition which means the symptoms will gradually get worse. Over time, most functions of the brain will be affected. How quickly and in what way dementia progresses depends on each individual.
Even though everyone’s experience of dementia is different, common symptoms include loss of memory, loss of ability to recognize people or objects, loss of sense of direction, loss of ability to understand speech or to communicate with speech, loss of problem solving skills and loss of ability to learn how to carry out new tasks.
It is important to understand that loss of memory doesn’t necessarily mean loss of identity. Long term memories of early life, achievements, interests and relationships are in most cases reserved until late in the disease process.