In this post I link to and excerpt from the Radiopaedia article, Causes Of Dementia [Mneumonic], Dr Daniel J Bell◉ and Th0mas89 et al.
For an outstanding discussion of all the causes of autoimmune encephalitis, please see Dr. Josh Farkas‘ outstanding Internet Book Of Critical Care’s [Link is to the book’s table of contents] chapter, Autoimune Encephalitis, May 29, 2021 by Dr Josh Farkas.
All that follows is from the above post*:
[* I reviewed all the links in the article and recommend others do so also.]
The causes of dementia can be remembered using the mnemonic:
- VANISHED
Mnemonic
- V: vascular, vitamin deficiency: B1, B6, B12, folate
- A: Alzheimer disease, autoimmune: cerebral vasculitis, systemic lupus erythematosus
- N: normal pressure hydrocephalus, neoplasia
- I: infection, e.g. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, herpes simplex encephalitis, prion diseases, tertiary syphilis, HIV/AIDS, PML
- S: substance abuse, serum abnormalities e.g. hyperammonemia, uremia, Wilson disease
- H: hormones: hypothyroidism, hyperparathyroidism
- E: electrolyte disturbances: e.g. hyponatremia, hypokalemia, hypocalcemia, hypercalcemia etc.
- D: depression (pseudodementia)