What Is The Difference Between Alzheimer's And 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.

As people get old a few of them will experience changes in cognition with age related capacity rather than intellectual capacity. There are some people who get both disparities of mentally and physically impaired that will led into depression due to aging process of their body. Even though, the forgetfulness is a common among older adults, we as healthcare providers must evaluate altered mental status of the patients. “The evaluation and management of altered mental status are broad and require careful history and physical examination to eliminate life-threatening situations”(Patti & Dulebohn, 2017). Therefore, it is very important to recognize the importance of difference between normal age-related symptoms and developing new health problems that can arise in this specific population. As elders get older their memory lapses it frustrating to them leading them to be more worried about changes in their memory. Nurses have a unique capability to promote a cognitive health and determine the possibilities of potential cases of the impairment in elders. The movie “On Golden Pond” Mr. Norman was a perfect example and showed that his symptoms were interfering with his everyday live when he almost burns down the house with fire, calling Bill by his daughter’s name Chelsea and getting lost in on the lake. Even though, Mr. Norman had heart and dementia problems his wife never discouraged him to do what he liked such as

I found the videos this week to be fascinating and thought that they were very informational. I learned a lot about the brain and how it affected by Alzheimer’s and Dementia. When comparing the brain of someone who had Alzheimer’s, to someone who did not you could see a huge difference.

Dementia is a syndrome which is progressive in nature, characterized by impairment of memory and loss of intellectual ability.1 Decreased level of Acetylcholine in the brain, neuro-inflammatory reaction, rise in the oxidative stress and hypercholesterolemia have been reported to play an important etiological role in the memory decline.2 Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia which is a progressive and a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the presence of senile plaques rich in insoluble aggregates of β amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. AD has been estimated to account for 50–60% of dementia cases in persons over 65 years of age worldwide.3 Alzheimer’s Disease International

“Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition that destroys the connections between cells in the brain.” (WebMD, 2014). As the cells die the cortex shrinks. The part of the brain that is impacted the most in dementia is the cortex. The cortex includes the hippocampus. This helps new memories form. If there is damage to this part of the brain, there will be problems with the person memory.

In general terms, Alzheimer is a word that is used to discuss the condition where an individual undergoes the decline in their mental ability to an extent where they start forgetting about things. In a layman’s language, it involves times and occasions when the patient loses their memory and also face the difficulty to carry the basic steps during the daily routines, like carrying out solving or thinking about general concerns in life. In all conditions and types of the issue dementia, Alzheimer’s in dementia is known as the most common condition that leads to memory loss (Dennis, 2005).

As the Baby Boomer era has now grown up, there is subsequently a large increase in the number of elderlies in the United States. One of the largest generations reaching elderly status also brings an increase in curiosity on their health; particularly their mental health. With nearly 69% of practicing psychologist working with older patients, it is clear that there is a particular interest in how the elderly behave and think (Kring & Johnson, 2015). This curiosity and prevalence of elderlies brings along an increase awareness of commonly thought “elderly specific” illnesses and disorders. One major area that is often associated with the elderly is memory loss, more appropriately labeled as Dementia. However, not all areas of Dementia are reserved for the elderly.

Dementia is not a part of normal aging process. Dementia is a decline of cognitive function that interferes someone’s ability to meet the daily life activities. There is no specific diagnostic tool to confirm the disease. It is figured out by behavioral changes. The older adults are the most common victims of this disease. They cannot make fair judgement for any decisions, solve any problems and recall recent events. Since they have a memory impairment, safety is a big issue with independent living older adults. Usually aging population has more than one chronic health conditions. They usually take multiple prescription medications throughout the day in different times. If you ask them what are the pills for and when you take the pills. The

Dementia is not a disease but rather a group of symptoms caused by disorders that affect the brain (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, n. d). The hallmark of dementia, memory impairment, is accompanied by deficits in language, motor function, recognition, or executive function (Stahl, 2013). The most common forms of dementia are caused by Alzheimer’s disease (AD), vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (Prince et al., 2013). The risk of dementia increases with age. Dementia is rare below the age of sixty but affects about 17% of those between 80 and 85 years of age, 33% of those between 85 and 90 years old, and 50% of those over 90 years of age (Tom et al., 2015). As the

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

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the cortex, entorhinal cortex and hippocampus of the brain causing neuronal cell death, dysfunction of neurotransmitters (acetylcholine, serotonin, and norepinephrine) and atrophy in affected areas. B Amyloid plaques are described as insoluble clumps of peptides resulting from the cleavage of amyloid precursor protein. Neurofibrillary tangles result from destruction of neuronal microtubules which are key components of neuronal cell structure as they deliver nutrients and assist with synaptic

However, today, recognition and discoveries have increased rapidly. The CDC defines Alzheimer’s disease as a progressive disease beginning with mild memory loss possibly leading to loss of ability to carry on a conversation and respond to the environment. With as many as five million Americans living with the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s gradually worsens over seven stages with increasing age and by age eighty-five the risk of obtaining it reaches almost fifty percent. No matter the age, Alzheimer’s is incurable, however, there are many protective factors and medical management that can benefit the quality of life for many people infected with Alzheimer’s. However, there are also many risk factors such as age and family history. Constantly getting lost, losing things, or taking longer to complete normal tasks may seem like normal parts of aging but doing these things under Alzheimer’s is

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

Over the centuries, the term dementia has evolved from one that described any change in intellect or judgement in the elderly, to a collection of cognitive and behavioral symptoms correlated with specific neuropathology. The aging process is thought to have three possible cognitive outcomes: (1) normal age related decline, which is often described as normal and healthy aging; (2) age associated memory impairment, which is not as severe and does not have all of the features of dementia; (3) dementia, for which there are many types (Christensen & O’Brien, 2000).

When a lot of people think about dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, they usually use the two interchangeably and think they have to do with memory. It is true that they have to do with memory, but there are major differences between dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Misconceptions and lack of knowledge can lead to death or injury, which is why initiatives like Healthy People 2020 are so important. Dementias and Alzheimer’s affect a person’s daily life in many ways and it can be dangerous or deadly if not diagnosed and dealt with properly. It is important that there is an increase in people and their caregivers who are aware of the diagnosis and a decrease in preventable hospitalizations.