A Simple Guide to Dementia, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions

This book describes Dementia, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related DiseasesDementia is not a specific disorder but is rather a broad term for the impaired ability to think, remember or make decisions that affects every day activities. Alzheimer's disease is the most frequent cause of dementia, responsible for 60-80% of dementia cases. Alzheimer's is a specific disorder. Dementia is not. Learning about the two terms and the difference between them is important and can empower people living with Alzheimer's or another dementia, their families and their caregivers with necessary knowledge.
While dementia mostly involves older adults, it is not a part of normal aging. Normal aging may involve weakening muscles and bones, stiffening of arteries and vessels, and some age-related memory alterations that may show as:1. Occasionally misplacing car keys2. Struggling to search for a word but remembering it later3. Forgetting the name of an acquaintance4. Forgetting the most recent eventsNormally, knowledge and incidents built over years, old memories and language would stay intact.
Dementia is a term used for deterioration in mental ability severe enough to disrupt daily life. Dementia depicts a group of symptoms linked with deterioration in memory, reasoning or other thinking skills. Many different types of dementia are present and many disorders cause it. Mixed dementia is a disorder in which brain changes of more than one type of dementia happen simultaneously. It is caused by injury to brain cells that involve their ability to communicate, which can affect thinking, behavior and feelings.
Irreversible DementiasAlzheimer's diseaseVascular dementiaLewy body dementiaFrontotemporal dementiaMixed dementiaHuntington's diseaseCreutzfeldt-Jakob diseaseParkinson's diseaseReversible DementiasDeliriumEndocrine DiseasesMetabolic DiseasesEmotional Disease (depression)Nutritional deficiencies, Normal-pressure hydrocephalusTrauma and TumorInfections and immune disordersAdverse side effects of medicinesPeople with dementia can have disorders with:MemoryAttentionCommunicationReasoning, judgment, and problem solvingVisual perception beyond typical age-related changes in visionSigns that may indicate dementia are:Getting lost in a familiar neighborhoodUsing unusual words to indicate familiar objectsForgetting the name of a known family member or friendForgetting old memoriesTo diagnose the cause of the dementia, the doctor must identify the pattern of the loss of skills and function and determine what a person is still capable of doing.
More recently, biomarkers have become accessible to determine a more accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. No single test can diagnose dementia, so doctors tend likely to do a number of tests that can help locate the problem. Presently, no cure is available for any of the causes of irreversible dementia. The treatment of dementia is dependent on the underlying cause. Neurodegenerative dementias, like Alzheimer's disease, have no cure, even though there are medicines that can help protect the brain or treat symptoms such as behavior changes:Cholinesterase inhibitorsMemantineA healthy lifestyle, such as regular exercise, healthy eating, maintaining social contacts, reduces chances of developing chronic diseases and reduce number of people with dementia.
Non-drug Therapies may help:Occupational therapyModifying the environmentSimplifying tasksTABLE OF CONTENTIntroductionChapter 1 DementiaChapter 2 CausesChapter 3 SymptomsChapter 4 DiagnosisChapter 5 TreatmentChapter 6 Pr...