Social Effects Of Dementia

One of the most prominent and perhaps most feared condition associated with aging is dementia. The family of disorders can cause individuals to lose their mind, reducing one from being a complex, thinking, feeling human being to being confused and vegetative, unable to recognize their loved ones. Serious dementia affects nearly 37 million people globally, but predictions of how those numbers will change over the next few decades are conflicting (textbook). Although we know dementia as to do with damage to nerve cells in the brain, there are ongoing studies looking at correlations between other health issues and these types of diseases.

By 2015, it is estimated that there will be a number of 850,000 dementia sufferers in the UK and about 225,000 people develop dementia every year in which it is roughly about one person in every three minutes. It is predicted that the number of people with dementia will exceed 2 million in 2050 if preventative measures are not taken. In brief, dementia can be described as a persistent and progressive loss of mental ability due to brain diseases or injuries in which the symptoms can be recognized by memory disorders, perception and personality changes and also impairments of body functions. Alzheimer is the most common type of dementia which contributes about 62% of the cause of dementia and had become a global prevalence disease. By 2015, it

When living at home with dementia the individual will have professional help come to them to help with daily tasks such as supervising medication intake, enabling optimum health and safety at home, providing a patient listening ear and friendly face, cooking, housekeeping and general errands, helping to facilitate routine, familiarly and comfort for their loved one at a difficult time. When someone moves from their home into a care home it can be very

According to the Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), dementia is one of the most prevalent disorders found among

According to the Department of Health (DoH, 2013), dementia is describe as a syndrome that can be caused by number of progressive disorder which affects memory, thinking, behaviour and ability to perform everyday activities. Whereas Morris and Morris (2010), describe dementia as deterioration of the brain cells which affects the memory, thinking, communication and mood changes with a specific disease. Both description of dementia are similar in which the disorder

Dementia refers to a syndrome which results in deterioration in thinking, memory, behavior, and ability to execute everyday activities and duties. Despite the fact that the syndrome is mainly associated with the older people, it is not a normal aspect or part of ageing. One of the major causes of dementia is the aspect of Alzheimer's disease. This disease contributes to about 60 to 70 percent of the cases of dementia. Dementia possesses psychological, physical, economic, and social impacts in relation to the family, caregivers, and the entire society. Dementia affects each individual in a diverse or different way with reference to the impact of the disease and personality following the development of the syndrome (Gao et al, 2013 p. 447).

The term ‘dementia’ is used to describe a syndrome associated with an ongoing decline of the brain and its abilities. This includes problems with memory loss, thinking speed, mental agility, language, understanding, and judgment. People with dementia can become apathetic or uninterested in their usual activities, and have problems controlling their emotion. They also fine social situation challenging, lose interest in socialising and aspect of their personality may change. The majority of people who are diagnosed with dementia have either Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia, or a combination of the two. (Source 1) As the disease progresses, the person experiencing dementia becomes more vulnerable and their needs often complex; which requires appropriate care and management (Kitwood, 1997).this leads me to the next distinctive feature of patients with dementia.

More than 5 million Americans currently have dementia in the United States and this number is projected to rise to between 8 and 13 million by 2050 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015). Dementia is known to become more prevalent with age, increasing from 5 to 10 percent in people over 65 years of age to almost one half of people over the age of 85 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015). Although family members provide the majority of care for people with dementia, increasing needs over time often lead to placement in a long-term care setting. Dementia is the most common reason for entry into long-term care facilities (Zimmerman, 2013) and nearly 90% of persons with dementia will have at least one stay at a nursing home in their lifetime (Grunier, 2007).

Throughout this line of study, Alzheimer’s disease is a specific form of dementia. According to Alzheimer’s Association, dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability that is severe enough to hinder daily life. Memory loss is a symptom of dementia and the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s. One of the most common and severe symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering newly learned information. The changes of Alzheimer’s normally begin in the part of the brain that affects learning (Overview Alzheimer's Association). Some other symptoms of Alzheimer’s include gradual memory loss, the decline in capability to carry out everyday tasks and the loss of their language skills. According to Bialystok the rate of

Globally, the World Health Organisation reports there are approximately 47.5 million people who have been diagnosed with a form of dementia and there are 7.7 million new cases each year. The number of people effected internationally is estimated to triple by 2050 to

The topic I am writing about is memory loss or more specifically: Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Modern medicine has improved significantly in the last decade and the average human lifespan has been extended. However, since humans are living longer, there is also an increased susceptibility for chronic diseases as opposed to infectious diseases. A chronic disease that is slowly on the rise is Alzheimer’s, as it is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. This topic is important to me because I’ve had numerous encounters with patients with dementia and have seen the impact it has on many families and friends. Additionally, the brain is arguably

As people age their need for care might highly increase depending of their health issues and needs. Not only does the frail older adult need to live in an environment that’s safe, it also needs to make them feel comfortable. Someone who have possibly early stages of dementia needs to live in an environment that will make living as easy as possible for the individual. It is also important that the environment in which the individual will live in provides a sense of encouragement for the person.

Dementia affects about 3-4 million people in some way, either directly or indirectly. It is becoming more and more common as people are living longer. There is no known cause or cure for this disease, that affects adult’s ages 65-85 years old and is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.

Assisting individual with dementia can be very rewarding but circumstances can arise that are hard for the client with dementia or carer and can even be both parties. Hence, as an experienced carer it is vital to try to see things from the service user’s point of view. When dementia progresses it will create behavioural problems that can be very confusing, irritating or strenuous for family or carers to cope with and this could make the carers, family members and others very upset and stressed. As a carer it is good to understand that there are many reasons why anyone with dementia may not be prepared to do exactly what we would like them to do. Individual with dementia should not be expected to go along with our wishes or stick to our standards.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive cognitive disease mostly affect the aging people, but it is not cause because of age. “A common misperception is that AD is a normal or expected occurrence of aging, and that it is part of the typical trajectory of age-related cognitive decline” ( Burock, & Naqvi, 2014, p. 36). The medications these people are taking on daily basis are to stop the progression of the disease instead of improve cognitive function. This is an irreversible. Whatever part of the brain that is already affected will not come back to the previous state. Alzheimer's drugs don't work for everyone, and they can't cure the disease. Over time, their effects wear off. Regine,