WHAT IS DEMENTIA?

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a range of progressive neurological disorders, that is, conditions affecting the brain. There are many different types of dementia, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most common. Some people may have a combination of types of dementia.  Regardless of which type is diagnosed, each person will experience their dementia in their own unique way.

 

The four most common types of dementia are:

 

Alzheimer’s disease which is the most common within Dementia as it accounts for two-thirds of cases. The biggest risk factor for Alzheimer's is age, with an average of people living between 8 to 10 years after an Alzheimer's diagnosis. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease with 3 stages, beginning with the “early” or mild stage, progressing to the “middle” or moderate stage and ultimately, the “late” or severe stage. The early symptoms are;

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• Regularly forgetting recent events, names and faces

• Becoming increasingly repetitive

• Regularly misplacing items or putting them in odd places

• Uncertainty about the date or time of day

• A person becoming unsure of their whereabouts or getting lost

• Problems finding the right words

• Becoming low in mood, anxious or irritable, loss of self-confidence or apathy

 

Vascular dementia is the second most common form related mostly to strokes, which occur following either a single stroke or a series of mini-strokes, and subcortical vascular dementia (also called Binswanger's disease) caused by changes to very small blood vessels in the brain. The symptoms are similar to Alzheimer's but can be more specific symptoms that differ depending on the area of the brain that is affected. These are the symptoms;

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• Taking more time to process information, form thoughts and sentences

• Changes in personality, becoming low in mood, more emotional or apathetic

• Difficulty walking or changes in the way a person walks

• Stability issues, leading to unsteadiness and falls

• Bladder problems, including frequent urge to urinate

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Frontotemporal (FTD) is also known as "Pick’s disease", it is a relatively rare form of dementia, which is most often diagnosed between the ages of 45 and 64. FTD is caused by damage to cells in the frontal lobe of the brain - which tends to regulate our personality, emotions and behaviour. The temporal lobe is what helps us understand and use language. The symptoms for FTD are;

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• Changes in emotions and how people express their feelings

• Failing to maintain their normal level of personal hygiene

• Inappropriate behaviour and humour

• Development of unusual beliefs, interests or obsessions

• Changes in diet and food preference

• Decision making – difficulty with simple plans and decisions.

• A decline in language abilities, such as difficulty speaking or understanding words

• Difficulty recognising people or objects

• Movement problems including stiff or twitching muscles ad weakness

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Dementia with Lewy bodies is believed to affect around 100,000 people in the UK or 15 per cent of those with dementia. They are tiny deposits of a protein (alpha-synuclein) that appear in nerve cells in the brain. Researchers are yet to understand the full reason as to why Lewy bodies appear and how they contribute to dementia. However, they are linked to 2 factors; A low level of important chemicals (acetylcholine and dopamine) that carry messages between nerve cells and a loss of connections between nerve cell, which then die. The known symptoms for (DLB) are;

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• Changes in alertness and attention: periods of confusion

• Movement problems: Parkinson’s-type symptoms such as slower movements, stiffness in the arms and legs, and shaking or trembling

• Visual hallucinations: seeing things that are not really there, e.g. people or animals

• Sleep disturbances: vivid dreams, shouting out or moving while sleeping

• Problems with detecting smells