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dementia awareness

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DEMENTIA AWARENESS Explain what is meant by the term Dementia The term 'dementia ' describes a set of symptoms which include loss of memory, mood changes, processing information and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms occur when the brain is damaged by certain diseases, including Alzheimer 's disease and damage caused by a series of small strokes. Dementia affects older and younger people and the decline in the person will get worse as more brain cells are damaged or die. Describe the key functions of the brain that are affected by dementia: The main areas of the brain that are affected by dementia in terms of causing difficulties with their functions are: • Frontal Lobe – this is the part of the brain that …show more content…

If you are at a high risk of high blood pressure which can cause a stroke then this will be another risk factor. Also, smoking, lack of exercise, excess alcohol, exposure to aluminium and other metals and eating food high in cholesterol can lead to an increase in risk of having a stroke. Also medical conditions such as Huntingdon’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone disease are also risk factors. Identify prevalence rates for different types of dementia: The well established prevalence rates for dementia in the UK are: • 40-64 years: 1 in 1400 • 65-69 years: 1 in 100 • 70-79 years: 1 in 25 • 80+ years: 1 in 6 The number of people with these different types of dementia can then be broken down into the following: Dementia Types Prevalence Rates Alzheimer’s Disease 62% Vascular Dementia 17% Dementia with Lewy Bodies 4% Fronto-temporal Dementia 2% 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 may not necessarily always be forgetful, for example an individual with Fronto-temporal dementia may be less forgetful than a person suffering from Alzheimer disease. Their memory may remain intact but their personality and behaviour could

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