Dorothy FarrarDementia
Dementia is the progressive decline in mental performance. Characteristic of dementia is the decrease in memory (short-term memory) and the ability to think, and an associated change in personality.
What is dementia?
Dementia usually affects people of advanced age and encompasses a range of disorders. The most common and well-known form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease.
Dementia is characterized by disturbances in brain performance that affect the mental and intellectual areas.
They lead to a decrease in memory and the ability to think. These memory disorders are increasingly affecting the motor skills and language of those affected. Lifelong skills and abilities are gradually forgotten as the disease progresses.
Dementia is associated with changes in social behavior, motivation and personality of the patient.
causes
A variety of causes can be responsible for dementia. Alzheimer’s dementia , named after the disease of the same name, occurs most frequently . In a much smaller number, dementia is due to vascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis or stroke .Pick’s disease, which is characterized by the death of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, can also lead to dementia. Dementia can be related to other conditions such as Parkinson’s or depression .
In very rare cases, it occurs in connection with infections (e.g. AIDS , Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), drug poisoning, lack of oxygen in the brain and metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus or disorders of the thyroid function. These cases are reversible forms of dementia.
When to the doctor?
Forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, irritability and listlessness can be normal fluctuations. They appear in everyone’s everyday life from time to time. This is especially true with increasing age. However, if certain symptoms associated with dementia accumulate and intensify, medical evaluation is advisable. Dementia begins insidiously. This is the insidious thing about this disease. It makes no sense to hastily label those affected as demented or to ignore serious signs.
If there is a growing tendency for older people to become worryingly forgetful, misplace their keys, lose their day-to-day knowledge, become irritable and show signs of disorientation, it makes sense to see a neurologist. This clarifies with the help of tests whether dementia is present. This in turn gives those affected and the environment certainty about the facts.
Ideally, those affected seek help themselves. However, it is seldom the case for people with dementia to recognize their own condition. Rather, it is up to the environment to take signs that are piling up seriously and seek medical advice. There are certain medications that can significantly slow down the deterioration of cognitive, social, and emotional abilities in people with dementia. The sooner dementia is diagnosed, the better the chances of treating it.
symptoms and course
Typical symptoms of dementia:
The symptoms of dementia can be very diverse depending on the course and progression of the disease. They are always expressed through impairment of the patient’s cognitive abilities (from the Latin cognoscere = to recognize, to get to know, to experience).
There is a decrease in memory and the ability to concentrate, with short-term memory being affected at an early stage of dementia. Furthermore, there are language disorders, a lack of orientation and comprehension. plus one added.
Those affected often suffer from constant tiredness , lack of drive and depression – symptoms that are more likely to be associated with a depressive mood. In the further course, difficulties with everyday processes (dressing, washing, etc.) and personality changes (diffuse thought patterns) can occur.
Diagnose
What is needed to assess whether someone has dementia or not goes back to the very term of the disease. Dementia comes from the Latin words de and mens . De usually means from… away and mens means the mind. It is therefore a disease that leads away from a normal mind and is therefore associated with a reduction in intelligence.
How dementia can be diagnosed diagnostically always depends on linking findings to a determinable concept of the disease. As a horizon of perception, primary observations of the person concerned and the immediate environment in everyday life offer themselves.
In general, absent-mindedness, loss of memory, a decrease in the ability to express oneself in language and difficulties in spatial and temporal orientation quickly lead to the suspicion of dementia. These can be strong indications of the presence, but do not have to be. To get clarity, it makes sense to consult a doctor. With the help of technical equipment and thus beyond the horizon of perception of the environment, he can carry out investigations.
Magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography help here in equal measure in order to be able to verify or falsify a suspicion. But a blood count can also provide information about the physical metabolism.
In addition, a clock test is often used, in which a patient is asked to draw the number field of a clock and has to enter different times when prompted. Based on existing deviations from an expected normal performance, there is then an indication of dementia. This results in the overall path for determining dementia: A judgment requires a wide range of findings.
complications
Many people with dementia suffer from depression. Various processes play a role in the development of depression. On the one hand, the diagnosis represents a great psychological burden that can lead to depression and other mental illnesses. On the other hand, the progressive damage to the brain disrupts the brain metabolism and thus contributes to depression on a biological level. Furthermore, depression is not only a possible complication but also a risk factor for the development of dementia (e.g. Hummel et al., 2012). In practice, distinguishing between depression and dementia is a challenge. Especially at the beginning of dementia, when MRI or CT findings are still unremarkable, confusion is possible. Depression can trigger very similar symptoms.
Depression can lead to further complications such as suicidality. Both dementia and depression complicate the reliable intake of medication, which poses a potential problem for treatment. Conversely, dementia can also be viewed as a complication of depression, which makes psychotherapeutic treatment more difficult and can intensify depressive thoughts. Difficulty swallowing can lead to the inhalation of foreign objects (e.g. food), which promotes infection or can destroy lung tissue. dehydrationor malnutrition and malnutrition can also occur. Unsteadiness when walking increases the risk of falls and related injuries. Pain disorders and delirium are also potential complications of dementia. There are also numerous internal comorbidities.
treatment and therapy
In most cases, dementia cannot be cured and progresses depending on the form of the disease.
Alzheimer’s dementia usually sets in at an advanced age and progresses slowly. Other forms of dementia progress in phases and are much more aggressive. States of relatively clear thinking alternate with those of a significant decline in mental abilities and mood swings.
Dementia often pushes both the patient and their relatives to the limit of their ability to cope. Despite various methods of slowing down the disease, dementia usually leads to a need for care and a reduced life expectancy.In order to delay the course of dementia as much as possible and to make the patient’s quality of life as long and as high as possible, it is important to recognize it at an early stage. The diagnosis can be made using relatively simple means based on the specific behavioral pattern of the patient and targeted tests and examinations. In the case of Alzheimer’s dementia, the diagnosis is made after other possible causes have been ruled out.
The treatment of dementia aims to delay the decline in brain performance for as long as possible and to enable the patient to manage his or her everyday life. Drugs that improve the exchange of signals between nerve cells and therapeutic measures to train brain performance are used. The spectrum of sociotherapeutic measures is broad. A fixed daily structure helps the patient to orientate himself more easily in everyday life.
prevention
According to current scientific knowledge, dementia cannot be specifically prevented. However, some risk factors are known that have a favorable effect on the development of dementia. These include high blood pressure , smoking , obesity , atrial fibrillation, hypothyroidism and head injuries. A healthy lifestyle is generally recommended. The most important things to mention here are a balanced diet and sufficient exercise.
Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.