Pathophysiology: Deranged function in an individual or an organ due to a disease. For example, a pathophysiologic alteration is a change in function as distinguished from a structural defect.Dementia Pathophysiology. Vascular disease is mainly caused by hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) due to a thickening of the artery lining from fatty deposits or plaques (atheroma). ... Dementia is a symptom of a variety of specific structural brain diseases as well as several system degenerations.

Definition. The terms “etiology” and “pathogenesis” are closely related to the questions of why and how a certain disease or disorder develops. Models of etiology and pathogenesis therefore try to account for the processes that initiate (etiology) and maintain (pathogenesis) a certain disorder or disease.Pathophysiology: Deranged function in an individual or an organ due to a disease. For example, a pathophysiologic alteration is a change in function as distinguished from a structural defect.

The two major degenerative causes of dementia are Alzheimer's disease (the progressive loss of nerve cells without known cause) and vascular dementia (i.e. loss of brain function due to a series of small strokes).