Symptoms And Diagnosis Of Dementia

The term ‘dementia’ describes a set of symptoms which can include loss of memory, mood changes and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms occur when the brain is damaged by certain conditions and diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. 
Age is the greatest risk factor for dementia. Dementia affects one in 14 people over the age of 65 and one in six over the age of 80. However, dementia is not restricted to older people: in the UK, there are over 17,000 people under the age of 65 with dementia, although this figure is likely to be an underestimate.

Dementia can be defined as a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life (alz.org). More than often, individuals affected by dementia are over the age of 65. In the United States, there are more than three million cases of dementia each year. According to World Health Organization, the number of people living with dementia is currently estimated at 47.5 million worldwide and is expected to increase to 75.6 million by 2030 (World Health Organization 2015). Dementia is caused by physical modifications in the brain and is known for loss of memory and mental abilities. It’s a progressive disease which means it gets worse over time. If diagnosed early on, the quality of life for people with dementia as well as their family members can be significantly improved. There are many different types of dementias although some are far more reciprocal than others. One of the most common types of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Other few types of dementias are “Vascular dementia, Mixed dementia, Parkinson 's disease and Frontotemporal dementia (Krishnan, D. S)”. All of the various forms of dementia tend to have similar symptoms which consequently makes it hard to determine the type of dementia a patient may be suffering from.

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).

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

Dementia is a disorder that leads to a gradual loss of the cognitive capacity of an individual, ultimately affecting one’s daily activities. Dementia does manifests through the accompanying disorders because it does not exist on its own. In other words, dementia is a disorder that comes about through the existence of the related disorders. The main ones are four, but they are not the only disorders that cause dementia. These include Lewy Bodies dementia (LBD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD). Others include mixed dementia, Huntington’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus and Frontotemporal dementia. According to Ram (2006), these disorders have a broad spectrum of impacts on the patients besides having devastating effects on the overall economy of the world’s nations especially when the number is significantly high. The paper intends to dig out the milestones the dementia disorder has undergone.

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.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive and fatal form of dementia, frequently seen in the elderly altering their cognition, thought process and behavior. AD is reported in about half of patients that have a dementia diagnosis; one study states that about 10.3% of the population over 65 years is affected by dementia with an increase to almost 50% over the age of 8 (Beattie, 2002). Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of the aging process in humans, but rather found in a group of diseases that affect the brain leading to a decline in mental and physical control. AD when diagnosed has a very slow and gradual course, initially affecting the individual’s short term memory (Beattie, 2002). Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death, affecting more than five million people in the United States and is also one of the most common forms of dementia. Dementia can be defined as a disorder of progressive cognitive impairment severe enough to affect daily functions of an individual’s life (Fillit, et al., 2002).

Alzheimer 's is a slow and debilitating disease that generates multiple problems with cognitive skills including; memory, thinking and behavior. (MedlinePlus, 2015) It is especially painful for friends and family members who see their loved ones progressively lose their memory and ability to function as they normally have. Symptoms typically develop gradually and progressively get worse over time, becoming severe enough to put the person afflicted with the disease unable to complete daily tasks and placing themselves at risk. (MedlinePlus, 2015) Alzheimer’s is the most common diagnosed condition of dementia. (MedlinePlus, 2015) Sixty to eighty percent of dementia cases are designated as Alzheimer’s. (MedlinePlus, 2015) Although the greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer’s is increasing age, it is not considered a normal part of aging. The majority of those diagnosed with Alzheimer 's are approximately sixty-five and older. However, Alzheimer’s is not just a disease affected by the older age populations. About 5 percent of people with Alzheimer’s experience early symptoms and the onset Alzheimer 's and most often appears in their forties or fifties. As stated above, Dementia or Alzheimer’s symptoms gradually worsen over time. In the early stages, it is common to experience mild memory loss. Eventually, the ability to carry on a conversation is lost. The sixth leading cause of death in the United States is Alzheimer’s. After Alzheimer’s symptoms become publicly

Alzheimer’s, the most relevant cause of Dementia, is a disease that affects as many as 4.5 million Americans per year (WebMD 2005-2014). Alzheimer’s is a disease that is an irremediable, continuous brain neuron degenerative disease that can be asymptomatic at first and then overtime becomes symptomatic. Alzheimer’s is a gradual disease that advances in three phases: mild, then moderate, and, finally, severe (1). Symptoms appear after the age of 60 and include: the slow destruction of memory and thought processes, and ultimately ends with the absent ability to do normal everyday duties. These symptoms can be anything from forgetting a recent event, or can be as problematic as forgetting the name of a family member. There are many daily

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.

What exactly is dementia? By definition, “Dementia, which is from the Latin word dement meaning ‘without mind,’ is a progressive deterioration and eventual loss of mental ability that is severe enough to interfere with normal activities of daily living, lasts more than six months, not present since birth, and not associated with a loss or alteration of consciousness” (Thomasson, 2014). Dementia is usually caused by a loss of brain cells in the cerebral cortex of the brain, the part responsible for thoughts, memory, actions, and personality (Thomasson, 2014). The loss of brain cells in this part of the brain usually leads to what is called cognitive impairment which can at some point be diagnosed as dementia (Thomasson, 2014). What a lot of

Dementia is a disorder that affects the memory and thinking of whoever has it. It is very important to understand the different types of the disorder to get proper treatment. Dementia also can cause anger issues as it develops over time. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia as if effects around five million people. Symptoms include forgetting day or year, forgetting where placing things and trying to find them later, and poor judgement. Vascular dementia is usually caused when some has a major stroke or a silent stroke. Symptoms include trouble talking or understanding speech, inability to recognize familiar sounds and sights, and frequent trouble with walking. DLB dementia effects not only a persons mental state, but

Many tend to get dementia and Alzheimer’s confused, but they are two different diseases. People with dementia have symptoms that can vary greatly such as memory loss, communication and language, ability to focus and pay attention, reasoning and judgement, and visual perception. There are 36 million people estimated to live with dementia, and this number is rapidly increasing” (Alzheimer’s Disease International, 2012). When someone has dementia, it starts off slowly but then progresses quickly. “Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and

The ten warning signs of Dementia are recent memory loss that affects job performance, difficulty performing familiar tasks, problems with language, disorientation of place and time, poor or decreased judgement, problems with abstract thinking, misplacing things, changes in mood or behavior, changes in personality, and loss of initiative (Sapp, 71-72). Though there is no cure found for Alzheimer’s diseases there are preventatives and medicines to slow down the progressiveness of the disease. Unless a cure is found, it is projected that the amount of people 65 and older who will develop Alzheimer’s will triple by 2050.

In medicine, an early diagnosis can mean the difference between life and death. With today’s advancements in technology, early diagnosis is becoming a real possibility for many diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. Worldwide it is estimated that 24 million people have dementia, the majority of these people are thought to have Alzheimer’s disease. (Mayo Clinic, 2014) According to Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) (2015) Alzheimer’s disease is among the top ten leading causes of death in the United States. Affecting 5.1 million Americans. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging, but the risk of developing this disease increases with age. One of the best tools for diagnosing Alzheimer’s is magnetic resonance imaging