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
Cerebrovascular disease, also known as vascular dementia, is the second to most common form of dementia. It is characterized by blood vessels changing over time in the cerebrum (brain). The most common reason for vascular dementia is due to aging of the body; but it is also tied to cholesterol and the state of the walls of the blood vessels. Too much cholesterol and overall poor health of blood vessels can cause a thickness in the lining of the vessel walls, therefore cutting off some of the blood flow to the brain.
Having an immediate family member who has this form of dementia may increase your risk of getting it.
Vascular dementia is the first form of dementia, which is caused by damage to the brain through deprivation of oxygenated blood. If areas of the brain are not getting oxygen then part of it will die causing the vascular 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.
There are many different forms of dementia and each has its own cause. Some of the main type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia affecting 50%-70% of dementia patients (Alzheimer's australia, 2005). This is a degenerative illness which attacks the brain, this is achieved buy tangles which are in the middle of shrunken brain cells and plaques which eventually cause the brain cells to die meaning information can no longer be recalled or assimilated. There are also other types of dementia which include vascular dementia which is caused by circulation of the blood to the brain, Parkinson’s disease which is a disorder of the
The person may become confused when handling money and undergo personality changes, appearing to no longer care about those around them. Swings are common and the person may become tearful for no apparent reason, or become convinced that someone is trying to harm them.In advanced cases people may also adopt unsettling behaviour like getting up in the middle of the night or wander off and become lost. Some people lose their inhibitions and sense of what is acceptable behaviour, undress in public or make inappropriate sexual advances. The person may become incontinent, have difficulty eating and drinking and may become completely dependent on others.2. Symptoms usually develop suddenly and progress in a step like way where a sudden worsening is followed by a period of stabilisation. Common symptoms include poor concentration and difficulties with communication. memory loss may also lead to confusion.As vascular dementia does not affect all of the brain, the individual may be able to retain more of their abilities and memory loss may not appear until later in the progression of the disease. This means that the individual may be more aware of their deteriorating health and may therefore be more at risk of depression.3. Dementia with Lewy Bodies is a
Alzheimer 's disease causes 50% to 60% of all cases of dementia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). In addition, researchers have found that two other nervous system conditions, Lewy body disease and Pick 's disease, which were originally incorrectly diagnosed as Alzheimer 's, are emerging as major causes of dementia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). Dementia is considered a late-life disease because it tends to develop mostly in elderly people; as many as half of all people over the age of eighty are suspected of suffering from Alzheimer 's disease (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke).
Alzheimer’s Disease is a form of dementia affecting more than one third of those over ninety-five years old. Its effects vary per person and become systematically more extreme as time wears on. Alzheimer’s is currently incurable and impossible to slow, destroying neurons and brain tissue, resulting in loss of memory, judgment, awareness, communication, behavior and capacity for emotion. Changes in personality and loss of initiative are also common symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
The condition includes those known as Pick’s Disease, Frontal Lobe Degeneration and Dementia associated with Motor Neurone disease.
Lewy bodies develop gradually and gets more severe over the years, symptoms include memory loss, visual hallucinations, delusions, muscle stiffness. 3.3 Outline the risk factor's for the most common causes of dementia The risk factor's for Alzeheimers is age, family history and genes Vascular dementia is increasing age, history of heart attacks, strokes or mini strokes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes Lewy bodies is advanced age, it appears to affect more men than women, having a family member who's had it and a unhealthy lifestyle 3.4 Identify prevalence rates for different types of dementia The established prevalence rates for different types of dementia are 40-64yrs 1 in 1400 65-69yrs 1 in 100 70-79yrs 1 in 25 80+ 1 in 6 4. Understand factors relating to an individuals experience of dementia 4.1 Describe how different individuals may experience living with dementia depending on age, type of dementia, and level of ability and disability Depending on the form of dementia people's ability and disability will be different. People with
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a type of dementia that shares symptoms with both Alzheimer 's disease and Parkinson 's disease. It may account for around 10 per cent of all cases of dementia (Alzheimer’s Society, 2016). Lewy refers to the inflammation or neuro-inflammation of the brain (Surendranathan et al, 2015). Both Parkinson 's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies are age-related diseases, although onset before age 65 years is not uncommon and both diseases are more common in men than in women (Walker et al, 2015).
Pick's disease is a form of dementia characterized by a progressive and irreversible deterioration of social skills and changes in personality, along with impairment of intellect, memory, and language. In 1892 Arnold Pick, a German neurologist studied a patient who in his life had dementia and lost of speech. When the patient died, his brain shrunk, with the brain cells having died (atrophied) in the specific areas of the brain. In Pick’s disease, the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are most affected. Changes occur in the cerebral cortex (which is how the frontal lobe is affected.) Pick's disease affects the temporal lobes of the brain in 25%, frontal lobes in 25% and both frontal and temporal lobes in 50% of
Most patients diagnosed with Neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s live approximately ten years but there are very few that have lived for 20 years (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Major or mild Neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s has brief plateaus from severe dementia to death. The process starts with the status of mild Neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s and progressively declines until it reaches the major Neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s status (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Early onset symptoms of this disease usually is causative mutations that are usually found in the fifth and sixth decades (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Regular onset symptoms are usually found in the eighth and ninth decades (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The last stages of Neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s has the individual mute and bedbound. If there are no other medical comorbidities than the cause of death would most likely be death by aspiration. If diagnosed at a younger age there is a greater chance of surviving the full course of the disease (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). On the other hand, for older individuals they might have other comorbidities or mixed pathology that will cause or play a factor in their death (American Psychiatric Association,
Frontotemporal Dementia describes a clinical syndrome associated with the shrinking of the frontal and temporal anterior lobes of the brain. A shorten way the say Frontotemporal Dementia is FTD. Another name for FTD is Pick’s disease. Usually the cause is unknown. No treatment has been shown to slow FTD. There is no cure for Frontotemporal Dementia. Early signs of FTD or apathy or unwillingness to talk, change in personality and mood, such as depression. FTD can not be prevented.