What Is Dementia?

What is Dementia?

Dementia, is a broad term that refers to a deterioration in brain functioning. It can include thought processes, judgment, reasoning, memory, communication and behaviour.

What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s and Dementia?

Dementia is a broad category, while Alzheimer’s disease is a specific type, and the most common cause, of dementia. Other kinds of dementia include Huntington’s disease, frontotemporal degeneration, vascular disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and Parkinson’s dementia.

What Are the Symptoms of Dementia?

Dementia symptoms can included, but not limited to the following:

Cognitive changes

Memory loss
Difficulty communicating or finding words
Difficulty with complex tasks
Difficulty with planning and organizing
Difficulty with coordination and motor functions
Problems with disorientation, such as getting lost

Psychological changes

Personality changes
Inability to reason
Inappropriate behavior
Paranoia
Agitation
Hallucinations

What Causes Dementia?

Dementia involves damage of nerve cells in the brain, which may occur in several areas of the brain. Dementia may affect people differently, depending on the area of the brain affected.

Dementias can be classified in a variety of ways and are often grouped by what they have in common, such as what part of the brain is affected, or whether they worsen over time (progressive dementias).

Some dementias, such as those caused by a reaction to medications or an infection, are reversible with treatment.

The risk of developing dementia increases as people age, but it is not a normal consequence of aging.

Prevalence of Dementia

As of 2010, more than 35.6 million people worldwide are living with dementia, or more than the total population of Canada. The global prevalence of dementia stands to double every 20 years, to 65.7 million in 2030, and 115.4 million in 2050.

Approximately half of people over the age of 85 develop Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia. Currently, 5.4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

In 2011, the first wave of the baby boomers turned 65. Between 2 per cent and 10 per cent of all cases of dementia start before the age of 65 an the risk for dementia doubles every five years after age 65.

Diagnosis of Dementia

Doctors employ a number of strategies to diagnose dementia. It is important that they rule out any treatable conditions, such as depression, normal pressure hydrocephalus, or vitamin B12 deficiency, which can cause similar symptoms.

Early, accurate diagnosis of dementia is important for patients and their families because it allows early treatment of symptoms. For people with AD or other progressive dementias, early diagnosis may allow them to plan for the future while they can still help to make decisions. These people also may benefit from drug treatment.

Early, accurate diagnosis of dementia is important for patients and their families because it allows early treatment of symptoms, including:

Patient history
Physical examination
Neurological evaluations
Cognitive and neuropsychological tests
Brain scans
Laboratory tests
Psychiatric evaluation

If you suspect someone has dementia, arrange for a doctor’s appointment for an evaluation. Sometimes, reversible conditions such as normal pressure hydrocephalus or vitamin B12 deficiency can cause confusion or memory loss. An assessment by a doctor can determine if any of those reversible health concerns exist, as well as outline a plan for treatment.

Treatment of Dementia

While treatments to reverse or halt disease progression are not available for most of the dementias, patients can benefit to some extent from treatment with available medications and other measures, such as cognitive training.

Not withstanding the aforementioned regarding treatment of dementia. Some Medications that are approved specifically to treat Alzheimer’s disease are often prescribed to treat other kinds of dementia as well. While some people report seeing very little benefit, others report that these medications seem to temporarily improve cognitive functioning and slow the progression of dementia. Other ways to respond to changes in cognition and behaviour include non-drug approaches like maintaining a daily routine, changing how caregivers respond to the person with dementia, and paying attention to non-verbal communication from your loved one.

Preventing Dementia

There is no sure-fire way to prevent all types of dementia.

However, research suggests a healthy lifestyle can help lower your risk of developing dementia when you are older. It can also prevent cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and heart attacks.

To reduce your risk of developing dementia and other serious health conditions, it’s recommended that you: