Dementia is a clinical syndrome of major public health concern in Korea. With regard to the disease model, dementia is considered to be a medical illness in terms of its etiology, but a psychiatric illness in terms of its symptom profile and treatment...
Dementia is a clinical syndrome of major public health concern in Korea. With regard to the disease model, dementia is considered to be a medical illness in terms of its etiology, but a psychiatric illness in terms of its symptom profile and treatment. In the case of dementia, the possibility of psychosocial factors modifying the effect of the biological risk factors has been proposed. Education, a social factor, is one of these potential modifiers. In this article, we i) describe a disease model of dementia, primarily focusing on the perspectives for its prevention; ii) explain the modifying effects of education on the course of dementia based on the evidence provided by both foreign and domestic studies; and iii) suggest the implications of this disease for public health and clinical aspects, and discuss future research directions.