What Does Senile Mean?

Technically, senile can mean anything related to old age. For instance, joint disease that arises in one's senior years has been called senile arthritis. However, senile has been more commonly used to describe someone with an aging-related decline in cognitive abilities, such as memory loss or confusion.

Conditions contributing to such issues have been called "senile" conditions in the past as well. Senile Alzheimer's, senile dementia, and senile plaques are examples that have also generally been referred to as senility.

Though using the term in this context has lost favor over the years, this is still the meaning that most are familiar with.

Use of the Word Senile

Senile was used more commonly in the past, especially when memory loss and confusion were thought of, by some, as a normal consequence of getting older. The view used to be that the body and the mind both could be expected to decline together as someone aged, and that poor mental functioning was just a normal part of aging.

An individual was often described as having "senile dementia" or "senile Alzheimer's," meaning that the disease and its associated mental decline developed in older age.

Science has shown that significant memory loss, disorientation, and confusion are not normal parts of aging, but rather are symptoms of neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, or Lewy body dementia.

Senile is sometimes used to describe the plaques that build up in the brain as Alzheimer's disease progresses. These senile plaques, along with neurofibrillary tangles, are often described as the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease,

Senile Degeneration of the Brain

While senility is a loosely used and somewhat inaccurate and negative reference to cognitive loss, dementia is the accepted medical term.

Senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT) is a medical diagnosis that previously was used to describe symptoms of dementia that were likely caused by Alzheimer's disease. The word senile here references the age of onset, which was considered senile if it had developed after the age of 65.

The word type was included in the diagnosis because Alzheimer's technically could only be definitively diagnosed following a brain autopsy after death, so the implication was that the symptoms appeared consistent with those of Alzheimer's disease.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-V (DSM-V), SDAT is now coded diagnostically as either a major or minor neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's disease.

Causes and Stages of Dementia

Dementia includes a broad range of brain conditions that cause a progressive decline in a person's ability to think and remember. Moreover, the loss of these abilities makes it increasingly difficult for people to function or care for themselves.

The most common causes of dementia include Alzheimer's disease, followed by vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Other less common causes include Parkinson's associated dementia, Huntington's disease, tertiary syphilis, HIV-associated dementia, and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.

There is no cure for dementia, and the progression of the condition is typically slow. Medical professionals usually classify dementia by stage based on symptoms. 

Stages may be classified as follows:

• Early-stage dementia is diagnosed when daily life is starting to become impacted. It is usually characterized by forgetfulness, inability to find words, repeating things, and difficulty in managing routine tasks like finances or shopping.
• Middle-stage dementia will affect a person's ability to function both inside and outside of the home. A person will typically lose almost all new information within moments of receiving it and exhibit impairment of social judgment and general problem-solving, and will often get lost. Challenging behaviors often develop in mid-stage dementia.
• Late-stage dementia is the stage where a person requires assistance with all activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing, and dressing. 

A Word From Verywell

In popular language, the terms senility and dementia often share the same space. But, in truth, senility may no longer have a place in the modern vocabulary given its inaccurate use and negative connotations.

Use of terms such as senile may only reinforce the stigma of dementia.