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I. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   II. Dementia   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Senility is a misused term for the loss of ability to think, reason, and remember in older persons. Senility is not a medical condition; it is not normal, natural, or inevitable with aging; it is not limited to older people either. The term senility is replaced in most of my pertinent research by the medical term dementia, which seems to describe a group of symptoms that represent a change or deterioration from an individual's previous level of functioning (Tueth, 1995). Dementia has specific causes, which impair long-term memory and quite relevantly;: language, judgment, spatial perception, behavior, and often personality, interfering with normal social and occupational functioning. Most dementias are evidently both progressive and irreversible. According to Cummings (1995) after the age of 60, the frequency of dementia in the population statistically doubles every 5 years: that is to say it affects only 1% of 60-64-year-olds but 30-40% of those over age 85 (Cummings, 1995).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most common causes of dementia are Alzheimer's Disease (Tueth, 1995), and vascular problems or problems related to a stroke (Yoshitake et al., 1995) . Depression, believed to cause some symptoms of dementia, may be as common in early dementia as it is by itself and may improve with prompt treatment even in people with dementia. The risk of dementia increases with age. Although statistics concerning those who have dementias worldwide are not known, it is known that most dementias are not reversible but that people with dementia can function better with treatment of other medical or sensory problems , and optimal social and environmental support. From what I have learned, stimulation and activity can also help people with dementia. It is very important to note that minor memory problems in older people previously attributed to senility may have other causes, such as distraction, fatigue, grief, stress, alcohol, sensory loss, difficulty with concentration or inability to remember many details at once, illness, or medications (Cummings, 1995). Confusion and disorientation caused by these problems may apparently be reversible though. III. Examining Alzheimer's Disease By definition, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable degenerative disease of the brain. AD is a progressive dementing illness in which the core symptom is long-term memory loss (Tueth, 1995). Other associated symptoms include impairments in language, abstract reasoning, and visual spatial abilities as previously described in dementia. Personality changes are common and range from apathy to restless agitation. These are said to be directly related to memory difficulties (inferred from Elias, 1992). Psychiatric symptoms, including depression, delusions, and hallucinations, may also occur during the course of AD resulting somewhat from the severe loss of memory.