Dear Doctor, What is dementia and how can one get the better of it? My father has been diagnosed with the disease, which makes him terribly forgetful. Please, help with whatever information you have that can better his situation.
– Obianuju Anofuru, Abakaliki
Dear Obianuju, Dementia is defined as a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired (inadequate, damaged, incompetent, deficient, diminished, weakened) reasoning. Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Memory loss is an example.
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common type of dementia. Dementia is not a specific disease. It’s an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60 to 80 per cent of cases. Vascular dementia, which occurs after a stroke, is the second most common dementia type. But there are many other conditions that can cause symptoms of dementia, including some that are reversible, such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies.
Dementia is often incorrectly referred to as “senility” or “senile dementia,” which reflects the formerly widespread, but incorrect belief that serious mental decline is a normal part of aging. Dementia IS NOT A NORMAL PART OF AGING.
How do you suspect or know you have dementia? Here are a dozen-odd possible symptoms of dementia: Recent memory loss – a sign of this might be asking the same question repeatedly. Difficulty completing familiar tasks. For example, making a drink or cooking a meal. Problems communicating – difficulty with language; forgetting simple words or using the wrong ones. Disorientation – getting lost on a previously familiar street, or even in the house, for example. Problems with abstract thinking – for instance, dealing with money. Misplacing things – forgetting the location of everyday items such as keys, or wallets, for example. Mood changes – sudden and unexplained changes in outlook or disposition. Personality changes – perhaps, becoming irritable, suspicious or fearful. Loss of initiative – showing less interest in starting something or going somewhere.
To find out what is causing dementia symptoms, you need to undergo a thorough check-up with your doctor in order to determine what exactly is causing these symptoms. The checkup may include: blood tests; mental health evaluations; brain scans (only in some cases).
Doctors often can accurately diagnose the dementia symptoms in 90 per cent of cases. If you know someone who appears to be losing mental abilities to a degree that interferes with daily activities and social interactions, consult a doctor right away. First, the doctor will try to authenticate the suspicion of dementia and then try to distinguish whether it is Alzheimer’s Disease or Vascular Dementia. Alzheimer’s and dementia symptoms can overlap, but there can be some differences.
Both conditions can cause: a decline in the ability to think; memory impairment; communication impairment. Alzheimer’s will cause difficulty remembering recent events or conversations; apathy; depression; impaired judgment; disorientation; confusion; behavioral changes; difficulty speaking, swallowing, or walking in advanced stages of the disease. Dementia, on the other hand, will share some of these symptoms, but they include or exclude other symptoms that can help make a differential diagnosis.
Lewy body dementia (LBD), for example, has many of the same later symptoms as Alzheimer’s. However, people with LBD but are more likely to experience initial symptoms such as visual hallucinations, difficulties with balance, and sleep disturbances. People with dementia due to Parkinson’s or Huntington’s disease are more likely to experience involuntary movement in the early stages of the disease. There are some medications and treatments that may help manage some of the symptoms, so it’s important to seek help as soon as possible.
Treatment for dementia will depend on the exact cause and type of dementia, but many treatments for dementia and Alzheimer’s will overlap. Alzheimer’s treatment – No cure for Alzheimer’s is available, but options to help manage symptoms of the disease include: medications for behavioral changes, such as antipsychotics; medications for memory loss, which include drugs of the class of cholinesterase inhibitors. Although cure, as has been said, is not in sight, there are wonderful complementary remedies that aim to boost brain function or overall health, that can and do make a positive difference. There are also medications for sleep changes. Call the help-lines for further information.