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RedBaron Fair enough. Compos mentis means not affected by senility or dementia.
Dementia refers to over 26 types of brain damage, including the the damage that may be cause by accidents, meningitis or some types of drugs like ice.
The most common types in the elderly are:
Alzheimer's disease - toxic changes take place in the brain, including abnormal buildups of proteins. Previously healthy neurons stop functioning, lose connections with other neurons, and die. Starts with mild memory loss, leads to not recognising others, complete loss of identity, and near the end losing the abilities to swallow and breathe.
Vascular or Fronto-temporal - both caused by neurons dying due to lack of blood supply to the brain, common for people with advanced heart, blood pressure or arterial disease.
Lewy Body disease - caused by abnormal deposits of a protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain. These deposits, called Lewy bodies, affect chemicals in the brain whose changes, in turn, can lead to problems with thinking, movement, behavior, and mood.
All forms of dementia involve suffering, distress, confusion and often depression.
