Actually you can get dementia from a whole host of things...Alzheimers being the main one that comes to mind....but also many patients who have Parkinsons also have a form a dementia that almost mirrors Alzheimers...often patients are misdiagnosed with one or the other....
Then there is the natural aging process, or a series of small strokes as you described(TIAs), or one or two major strokes, and on and on...
Dementia in any form can be so very scarey....and often families do have a hard time dealing with dementia...its very heartbreaking to have your loved one no longer remember who you are, or who they even are, or what their whole past life was like...
And often those with dementia are fairly well off physically...they still want to do many of the things they used to do, such as cook, and yet are mentally so badly off, that they cannot be trusted to do those things...they do have to be watched...
At the nursing homes where I have worked, all the Alzheimers/Dementia residents were kept on a separate locked-down wing....for their own safety, as well as for the safety of the other residents who were in the nursing home...
Yikes...my hubby just returned home, and we have to go out shopping a little...but I sure do hope that this thread continues, as I find it so very interesting and informative...hope to return to this thread, when the shopping chores are over with...
And THAT'S where the danger comes in. See my recognition of this problem in post #113.