Dementia in ancient literature in Portugal

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the concept of dementia, in the present clinical meaning, is largely due to the works of the French physicians at the end of the 18^th century. However, it must be recognized that the term had been previously used in literature. In the present work, we investigated in a systematic way the use of the term demência in old literature in Portugal.

The site Biblioteca Nacional Digital was searched for. The terms used were demência, demente. The temporal interval was from the start until 1800.

Forty two books were found on diverse topics including poetry, religion, theatre, politics, philosophy, law and medicine. The terms demência, demente were usually equivalent to madness, or departure from reason, but remarkably in some cases the meaning was quite close to the present clinical concept of dementia.