Final answer:
Dementia is not always caused by Alzheimer's Disease, although Alzheimer's is the most common cause. Other conditions also lead to dementia, and the presence of Alzheimer's risk genes does not guarantee development of the disease. Protein abnormalities seen in Alzheimer's can likewise be present in other neurodegenerative diseases or after traumatic brain damage.
Step-by-step explanation:
It is false that dementia is always caused by Alzheimer's Disease. While Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, particularly in the elderly, there are actually several other conditions and diseases that can also cause dementia. Conditions such as vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia exhibit different pathological changes than Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's itself was named after Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist, who discovered amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles as hallmarks of the disease. These features lead to loss of neurons in the hippocampus, contributing to the dementia seen in Alzheimer's patients. It is also worth noting that while some forms of dementia, including certain cases of Alzheimer's disease, are influenced by genetics, risk genes do not ensure that an individual will develop Alzheimer's. Furthermore, other neurodegenerative diseases that feature protein abnormalities similar to Alzheimer's can also cause dementia, as well as traumatic brain damage.