dementia

Examples of dementia in the following topics:

• Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood

  • Distinct from a normal decline in memory is dementia, a broad category of brain diseases that cause a gradual long-term decrease in the ability to think and remember to the extent that a person's daily functioning is affected.
  • While the term "dementia" is still often used in lay situations, in the DSM-5 it has been renamed "neurocognitive disorder," with various degrees of severity.
  • About 10% of people with dementia have what is known as mixed dementia, which is usually a combination of Alzheimer's disease and another type of dementia.
  • There is no cure for dementia, but for people who suffer from these disorders and for their caregivers, many measures can be taken to improve their lives.

• Aging and the Nervous System

  • Dementia (from Latin de- "apart, away" + mens (genitive mentis) "mind") is the progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the brain beyond what might be expected from normal aging.
  • Symptoms of dementia can be classified as either reversible or irreversible depending upon the etiology of the disease.
  • Less than 10% of all dementias are reversible.
  • It is the most common cause of dementia.

• Neurodegenerative Disorders

  • Neurodegenerative disorders include Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, other dementia disorders, and Parkinson's disease.
  • Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly.
  • Alzheimer's disease was named for Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist who published a report in 1911 about a woman who showed severe dementia symptoms.
  • This rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease affects fewer than five percent of patients with the disease and causes dementia beginning between the ages of 30 and 60.
  • Patients with Parkinson's disease can also exhibit psychological symptoms, such as dementia or emotional problems.

• Neurocognitive Disorders

  • Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs), previously referred to in the DSM-IV-TR as dementia, are disorders that involve impairments in cognitive abilities such as memory, problem solving, and perception.
  • Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60% to 70% of cases of dementia.
  • What was previously referred to as dementia now constitutes most forms of major NCDs, while the diagnosis of mild NCD is reserved for cognitive symptoms that do not qualify for a major NCD.
  • Treatment of behavioral problems or psychosis due to dementia with antipsychotics is common; however, it is often not recommended due to its limited benefit and the increased risk of early death associated with it.
  • Later, thinking and behavioral problems may arise, with dementia commonly occurring in the advanced stages of the disease, whereas depression is the most common psychiatric symptom.

• Health Problems

  • Older adults are also more susceptible to certain neuropsychological disorders, such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease, that are virtually unseen in younger populations.
  • Dementia is a serious loss of global cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person—beyond what might be expected from normal aging.
  • Dementia is not a single disease, but rather a syndrome that is associated with a variety of different diseases, such as Alzheimer's.
  • Congestive heart failure combined with dementia—or even normal forgetfulness associated with aging—makes adhering to a strict regimen difficult for many older adults.

• Alzheimer's Disease

  • Alzheimer's Disease is an age-linked neurodegenerative disorder characterized by marked dementia.
  • Alzheimer's disease (AD), also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease, is the most common form of dementia.

• Observational studies and sampling strategies exercises

  • (a) An article called Risks: Smokers Found More Prone to Dementia states the following:62 "Researchers analyzed the data of 23,123 health plan members who participated in a voluntary exam and health behavior survey from 1978 to 1985, when they were 50 to 60 years old.
  • Twenty-three years later, about one-quarter of the group, or 5,367, had dementia, including 1,136 with Alzheimers disease and 416 with vascular dementia.
  • After adjusting for other factors, the researchers concluded that pack-a-day smokers were 37 percent more likely than nonsmokers to develop dementia, and the risks went up sharply with increased smoking; 44 percent for one to two packs a day; and twice the risk for more than two packs. " Based on this study, can we conclude that smoking causes dementia later in life?

• Administering Hormones

  • Hormone replacement therapy for menopause is based on the idea that the treatment may prevent discomfort caused by diminished circulating oestrogen and progesterone hormones, or in the case of the surgically or prematurely menopausal, that it may prolong life and may reduce incidence of dementia It involves the use of one or more of a group of medications designed to artificially boost hormone levels.

• Mental Health

  • This lithograph illustrates the eight mental health disorders that were thought to be prominent in England during the early-19th century: dementia, megalomania, acute mania, melancholia, idiocy, hallucination, erotic mania, and paralysis.

• Aphasia

  • Acute aphasia disorders usually develop quickly as a result of head injury or stroke, and progressive forms of aphasia develop slowly in cases of brain tumors, infection, or dementia.
  • Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is associated with progressive illnesses or dementia, and is the gradual process of losing the ability to think.