If people with CTE have dementia, doesn’t that just mean they have Alzheimer’s?

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In the later stages of CTE, as more and more brain tissue is destroyed and the cognitive and other symptoms worsen, an individual can develop difficulties with routine social or occupational functioning, as well as with household chores and activities. This would mean the person has dementia. It is important to note that dementia is not the same thing as Alzheimer’s disease, as it is so often viewed. Rather, dementia merely refers to problems with memory and other cognitive skills and behavior that are severe enough to get in the way of routine activities, daily functioning, and independence. Dementia is not an illness or a disease. Rather, it is a clinical syndrome that occurs in the later stages of many different neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common disease that eventually leads to dementia, but CTE can also eventually lead to dementia, without any evidence of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain.