| |
Dementia - Dementia Symptom, Cause, Treatment
Dementia is a serious illness that requires much help from a person's friends, family and society to manage.Dementia is the loss of mental abilities and most commonly occurs late in life. Of all persons over age 65, 5-8% are demented. Dementia is a loss of brain function. It is not a single disease. Instead, dementia refers to a group of illnesses that involve memory, behavior, learning, and communicating problems. The problems are progressive, which means they slowly get worse.
Symptoms of Dementia
The symptoms are includes
- Progressive memory loss
- Inability to concentrate
- Decrease in problem-solving skills and judgment capability
- Confusion , severe
- Hallucinations and delusions
- Altered sensation or perception
- Impaired recognition (agnosia)
- Impaired recognition of familiar objects or persons
- Impaired recognition through the senses
- Altered sleep patterns
- Insomnia
- Need for increased sleep
- Disturbance or change in sleep-wake cycle
- Motor system impairment
- Impaired skilled motor function ( apraxia )
- Inability to reproduce geometric figures
- Inability to mimic hand positions
- Inability to dress self
- Gait changes
- Inappropriate movements
- Other motor system impairment
- Disorientation
- Person, place, time disorientation
- Visual-spatial disorientation
- Inability to interpret environmental cues
- Specific disorders of problem-solving or learning
- Inability to generalize
- Loss of abstract thinking
- Impaired calculating ability
- Inability to learn
- Memory deficit
- Short-term memory problems (can't remember new things)
- Long-term memory problems (can't remember past)
- Absent or impaired language ability ( aphasia )
- Inability to comprehend speech
- Inability to read
- Inability to write
- Inability to speak , without muscle paralysis
- Inability to form words
- Inability to name objects
- Poor enunciation
- Inappropriate speech; use of jargon or wrong words
- Inability to repeat a phrase
- Persistent repetition of phrases
- Other language impairment
- Personality changes
- Irritability
- Poor temper control
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Indecisiveness
- Self-centeredness
- Inflexibility
- No observable mood (flat affect)
- Inappropriate mood or behavior
- Withdrawal from social interaction
- Inability to function or interact in social or personal situations
- Inability to maintain employment
- Decreased ability to care for oneself
- Decreased interest in daily living activities
- Lack of spontaneity
Causes of Dementia
The two conditions often occur together.There are two major causes of dementia are Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia (loss of brain function due to a series of small strokes). Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a leading cause of degenerative dementia in elderly adults. other causes are inludes
- Dementia is one of the most common causes of institutionalization, morbidity, and mortality among the elderly.
- Mild slowing of cognitive processes is normal with aging and, by itself, does not suggest dementia.
- Self-reported memory loss in elderly patients who function normally is often caused by aging or depression rather than by dementia.
- Dementia is typically preceded by a state of mild cognitive impairment, which may last for several years.
- In every patient, evaluation for dementia requires a thorough review of drugs, including OTC drugs.
- Currently used drugs may modestly improve cognitive performance or temporarily delay cognitive and functional decline due to dementia.
Treatment of Dementia
Dementia's patient have Disclosing the diagnosis early enables participate in treatment decisions and to prepare advance directives. If the patient has difficulty understanding, the physician may talk with family members first. Depending on the cause of the dementia, there are different treatments available. There is no cure to this illness, although scientists are progressing in making a type of medication that will slow down the process. Treatment or elimination of all potentially reversible contributing factors may substantially improve daily functioning and quality of life and may delay severe disability and institutionalization. Snoezelen rooms that provide patients with a soothing and stimulating environment of light, color, music and scent have been used in the therapy of dementia patients.
|
|
|
