Dementia, Part 2
The Better Life Experts |
December 2, 2008
This issue of
the Newsletter continues our discussion of the most typical causes of
dementia and describes some symptoms people may experience in the later
stages.
Some of the More Common Causes of Dementia
Many of us know people who have received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, so we
know first hand what the patient and his-her family are going through.
Therefore, in order to help you better understand the diagnosis of either
dementia or Alzheimer’s, we have referenced The National Institute of Aging,
The Alzheimer’s Association, as well as the Mayo Clinic for the latest
information to help you better understand both diseases...in layman’s
language (the way Momma Pat explains it). So here is a Primer 101 for the
average layman to better understand what a diagnosis of Dementia can mean,
mainly focusing on Alzheimer’s Disease.
The most feared of all dementia diseases is Alzheimer’s disease,
and the risk of developing this disease increases as we age. Years ago we
just said the person was “senile”. Because we weren’t able to diagnose or
treat the symptoms with much accuracy, many correctable problems were
untreated.
We also hear more about Alzheimer’s disease today because more people are
living longer and experience physical changes that people a generation ago
never would have encountered. Over the course of our lifetime, cells become
damaged and die throughout the entire body, including the brain. And since
we live longer today, there is the potential of accumulating more brain
damage due to accidents, diseases, exposure to environmental hazards and
toxins, unhealthy lifestyles and nutritional deficiencies. Even if we were
blessed with “good genes” to start with, decades of damage eventually can
take it’s toll. Then you have a serious problem.
The second leading cause of degenerative dementia in older people is
Lewy body disease, accounting for about 20% of all
dementia cases. In Lewy body dementia, abnormal clumps of protein are found
within the brain and disrupt it’s normal functioning. When the proteins are
found in an area of the brain stem where they deplete the neurotransmitter
dopamine, the person develops symptoms like we see with Parkinson’s
disease. Over 50% of Parkinson’s disease patients develop dementia along
with their other symptoms. When Lewy bodies are responsible for the dementia
in these cases, the abnormal proteins are found throughout other areas of
the brain and can cause havoc with the person’s ability to understand what
is going on, to think clearly, and to behave normally. Lewy body dementia
can exist purely on its own or along with other brain changes seen in
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
In Vascular dementia, symptoms can vary a great
deal from one person to another. Since symptoms occur when arteries feeding
the brain become narrowed or blocked, how noticeable the symptoms are
depends upon how much of the brain has been damaged by the blockage and
where the damage occurs. In the case of a sudden and dramatic change, we
refer to this as a stroke. When the blockages are smaller and the damage
gradually increases over time, the earliest symptoms involve problems with
organizing thoughts, difficulty keeping track of more than one thing at a
time, and having trouble telling a story in the proper order. Memory
problems typically appear much later. Although not all strokes result in
vascular dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic, about a third of the people
who have a stroke will experience dementia within six months. In fact, most
people with vascular dementia also have some Alzheimer’s disease. Other
causes of vascular dementia include: High blood pressure, extremely low
blood pressure, diabetes, and brain hemorrhages.
What are some symptoms of dementia in the
late stages?
- Memory loss that disrupts everyday life (e.g.. Not recognizing a
close family member or forgetting their name).
- Difficulty in performing familiar tasks (e.g., Cannot hem a skirt or
get the power mower going even after doing these simple tasks throughout
life).
- Difficulty verbalizing (e.g., In trying to explain something, cannot
remember familiar words, or cannot find the words to explain oneself).
- Disorientation. Where am I? Where do I live? (e.g., Gets up from an
afternoon nap and thinks it’s time for breakfast).
- Loss of judgment (e.g., Doesn’t know what to do if food on the stove
begins to burn).
- Problems with abstract thinking (e.g., Can no longer balance their
checkbook).
- Misplacing things (e.g., Where did I put my wedding ring?)
- Mood and behavior changes. (e.g., Can go from hot to cold in a few
seconds; can be very accusatory of certain people).
- Personality changes (e.g., Nice people can become nasty, suspicious,
fearful).
- Loss of initiative (e.g., Wants to sit in front of the television in
a semi-daze for hours and not want to get up to do something different).
In the next Newsletter, we’ll talk about the best ways to respond to the
signs that a loved one’s cognitive skills are slipping (e.g., their memory
is progressively getting worse), and what may act as “triggers” in starting
a dementia process. We will also describe ways to minimize the risk of
triggering a dementia process.
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