1- Background information on dementia and what it is 2- The differences between dementia and Alzheimer’s 3- How dementia changes parts of the brain 4- How the behaviour of those with dementia is affected 5- Impairments caused by dementia 6- How sufferers live with the disease 7- The treatments and cost of treating dementia 8- Incidence rates of the disease and how common it is 27 June 7- Acetyl Choline – chemical messenger in the brain which makes “neurones spark better and speak to each other more clearly.” (Bryden, 2005, p. 16) Small amounts of acetyl choline when you have dementia so brain does not work as fast. Drugs called acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors stop the breakdown of acetyl choline so you have increased amounts in …show more content…
(Blackwell, 2014) Depression is also common, mainly in people who live in residential homes. (Blackwell, 2014) 8) 800,000 people in the UK have dementia 17000 + are younger people 11500 are black or ethnic minority Two thirds are women Only 44% are diagnosed Estimates over 1 million by 2021 (Blackwell, 2014) 8) Economic Impact: Report published by national audit office in 2007 on dementia revealed that social services and the NHS were spending an annual amount of over 17 billion on dementia. This meant that dementia “costs more than heart disease, stroke and cancer combined.” (Blackwell, 2014, p. 2) Therefore making dementia the most expensive disease in the UK to treat. Estimates reveal that the number of people will only increase in upcoming years which will lead to an increase on the price. In 2012 it had already increased to 23 billion over the short span of 5 years. 2)Many people confuse alzheimer’s and dementia or refer to them as the same thing. However, Alzheimer’s is actually a symptom of dementia and is also its leading cause in the UK. Typical AD is mainly common in the age range of 70-80. It is associated with a lack of memory and inability to retain new information. (Blackwell, 2014) 3) Loss of neurones occurs in all types of alzehimer’s but in severe it goes up to 40% loss. Outer volume of brain therefore shrinks as the inner
Knowing the difference between the two is very important when explaining this to a patient. Knowing exactly what dementia results from compared to how Alzheimer's comes to is important to know as a medical assistant.This gives you the advantage of making the patient fully aware of what is going on.
a) Depression- individuals with severe depression suffer with poor memories and lack concentration. They will also become less motivated and become withdraw. These are all signs of dementia. A general practitioner may think that it is more likely that an elderly person is suffering from dementia than depression.
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 does not only impact the people with symptoms and it also disturbs the people who must care for the person. It is estimated that 1.2 million people are involved in the care of people with dementia. It has a financial burden on the Australian economy $4.9 billion in 2009-10. (1)
Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are often confused because of the similarities and mysteriousness that they share. According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the are actually very different in many ways. Dementia is term used to describe a disorder that impairs the mental processing of thoughts and memory. Other forms of dementia besides Alzheimer’s are Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Alzheimer’s Disease is a form of dementia and is the most common, from 60-70% of all dementia cases. To determine cause of dementia, doctors will use different mental evaluations, brain scans, and blood tests. Alzheimer’s is diagnosed through the evidence that the brain scans provide. One significant difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia is the fact that Alzheimer’s is a nonreversible disease. Some forms of dementia are temporary or reversible but Alzheimer’s has no cure and is degenerative.
Alzheimer dementia affect around 500,000 in UK, and the most common cause of Dementia. Alzheimer disease is Physical Disease that affect old people Brain. the first Described by German neurologist, Alois Alzheimer. during the course of disease, Protein Plaque and Tangles develop in the Brain structure that leading to the death of Brain cells. the people with Alzheimer also have a shortage of Chemicals that be much important to their Brain which are involved to with the transmission messages.
The biggest difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is that Alzheimer’s is degenerative and irreversible at this time. According to the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50-70 percent of cases of dementia (Sahyouni et al, 2017). However, there are other disorders that cause dementia such as Vascular dementia, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, dementia with Lewy Bodies and Frontotemporal dementia. In the early stages of many of these disease there are obvious differences in symptoms however, as the disease progresses the differences become more subtle, which can often lead to misdiagnoses. Dementia is caused by damage to brain cells. Each region of the brain is responsible for different function. Thus, when brain cells get damaged in certain areas of the brain the cells can not carry out their functions. This in turn causes cognitive and behavioral problems to occur. There is no specific test that can determine if one has dementia or Alzheimer’s. A diagnoses comes from a doctor's careful assessment of the patient’s medical history, a physical and cognitive functioning examination, and laboratory tests (Mayo Clinic on Alzheimer’s).
Dementia is not considered a specific disease because it is such a broad disease there are many different types.
Until recently, two significant abnormalities were observed in the brain of patients affected by Alzheimer's Disease: twisted nerve cell fibers, known as tangles neurofibrilares, and a protein called beta amyloid (Qué es la enfermedad de Alzheimer?, n.d., para. 3).
Three sophomore students in Kennebunk, Maine, are making a difference for the local elderly citizens through their music therapy organization: Project Playback. Alzheimer's and dementia have negative impacts on the human brain, and are more common in the elderly. Symptoms of each may include: extreme memory loss, difficulty thinking or understanding, delusion, disorientation, and overall mental decline. Jason Albaum (15), Juli Ennis (16), and Colby Ellis (16) have, for 3 years, been helping elderly Alzheimer's and dementia patients to bring back good memories from their earlier life by playing certain songs for them. Their contributions have made a positive impact on many elderly men & women’s lives. Recently, U.S. Cellular (through
After watching the videos and reading chapter 15 has changed my perspective on Cognitive functioning in late age. The reason being, first being able to know the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s, I thought that there were two different types of memory loss. The video did a good explanation describing dementia as the symptoms that lead to Alzheimer’s. Also, a good way to avoid the disease is to constantly exercise the brain and use less leisure time on watching television. As a person gets into late age you can see them not contributing in many activities that has so far prevented them to develop Alzheimer’s. Also, people with a college education had the most protection against Alzheimer’s due to many years of learning and looking
The Alzheimer’s Association says the disease cost the US $203 billion in 2013, and by 2025, an estimated 7.1 million people will suffer from the
As a person ages, there are some mental health issues that can arise. Two common disorders that come with age are Alzheimer’s and dementia. Both conditions have something in common, a person’s mind is altered due to forgetfulness. A person may not be able to retain information as easily as they once had. People with these conditions may forget how to perform simple, everyday tasks. One task that may be affected is taking medications. Another fact that comes with age is that people may start taking several medications for health conditions they may have developed over the years. It is important that people take these medications as prescribed, but because they may have dementia or Alzheimer’s they do not remember how or when to take their medications.
These relate to the age at which the disease first manifests itself. The occasion of early-onset is much lower than that of late-onset. There is a 10% occurrence rate for persons over the age of sixty-five, and a 50% occurrence rate for those over age eighty five. Late-onset Alzheimer's is often confused with senility due to old-age. This also makes diagnosis difficult for older patients. However Alzheimer's is not an inevitable part of the aging process, unlike a certain amount of senility. It can be helped and with new research may be prevented.
Alzheimer’s illness is an ongoing form of mental illness that impedes with behavior, memory and reasoning, which can be caused by having strokes, head injuries and etc. Alzheimer’s is a life threatening disease that not only can cause brain damage and paranoia but nevertheless there are medicines