 [ Symptoms ] what is the difference between dementia and alzheimer is  my 78 year old mother has been diagnosed with vascular dementia and the nurses at the home keep asking me why i do not put her on a drug like razadyne from what i have read this drug is for patients with early stage alzheimer is correct and what is the difference really between the two [ Disease ] hi in a nutshell dementia is a symptom and alzheimer is is the cause of the symptom got this from this link below it should answer all your questions and more the link <link> just copy into google your see it that way do hope this helps you good luck