Dementia is a Latin word for irrationality. Medically, dementia is a progressive brain disorder that results in confusion. Many diseases cause dementia; the most common one is Alzheimer’s disease. The frequency of dementia increases with age from less that 2% under age 69, to 5% in people between 75 and 79, and to more than 20% between 85 and 89. One in 3 people over age 90 suffers from moderate to severe dementia. About half of those affected by dementia suffer from Alzheimer’s. Vascular dementia usually results from strokes that diminish blood flow to the areas of the brain associated with memory and thinking. Other causes of dementia include neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. Certain medications and illnesses can cause symptoms that resemble dementia. These symptoms can be reversed if the cause is recognized and treated.

Confusion caused by dementia often results in sufferers becoming estranged from others and unpredictable in their actions. People with Alzheimer’s disease suffer mainly from memory loss and disorientation. These symptoms result in limitations in planning, judgment, and concentration. Other manifestations of the disease include personality changes, changes in perception, speech, and movements. During the course of the disease, patients lose their independence in managing everyday life; people become more and more dependent on care.

People with dementia experience accelerated loss of brain neurons. Some loss of neurons is associated with aging but the loss is much greater with Alzheimer’s, especially in the areas of the brain associated with memory and cognitive thinking. Alzheimer’s is also associated with the buildup of abnormal proteins in some brain cells. Treatment research is aimed at preventing the production of these proteins.

Recent research indicates that more education seems to be associated with a lower risk of dementia. Regular brain activities such as reading and crossword puzzles also appear to be associated with lower rates of dementia. Conscientiousness also appears to lower the risk of dementia. People who can be counted on to "do the right thing" are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as they age, according to a study published this month in the Archives of General Psychiatry. These findings seem to be true independent of other lifestyle factors such as occupation, income, physical activity, and smoking.

Treatment with medications can slow the progression of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It is important to get an early diagnosis, especially to identify treatable and reversible causes of dementia such as those associated with drug side effects. The effects of dementia affect people that are close to patients almost as much as they do the patients themselves. The impacts on family and social life are devastating for sufferers of dementia. Early diagnosis and a well thought out care plan are extremely important for patients and their support network. Most patients of dementia eventually need full-time personal care. The costs and impacts of this situation can be overwhelming. It can be very helpful to anticipate these needs and develop a strategy for care early on to allow patients and their support network to maintain as normal a lifestyle as possible under the extremely trying circumstances of fading memory and dissociation suffered by people with dementia.

Reference: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/dementia.html.

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