Senile dementia should not be confused with senility, which is seen in aged individuals. The aging process leads to brain cell deterioration, which causes fatigue, problems related to balance, and memory loss that is progressive in nature. Senile dementia symptoms manifest with the degeneration of brain cells. Nearly 10% of individuals over 65 years of age demonstrate senile dementia symptoms. Dementia can manifest in different forms. Regardless of the type, dementia is characterized by damage to the brain tissues, which hampers normal functioning. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of senile dementia. Other causes of senile dementia include atherosclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, alcohol abuse, Huntington disease, abuse of steroids, multiple sclerosis and viral or bacterial  [...]

It is important to know vascular dementia life expectancy. Vascular dementia manifests itself when the brain’s blood vessels either narrow down or get completely blocked. The brain is subsequently deprived of nutrients and oxygen. A massive stroke or a series of smaller ones may give rise to vascular dementia. Not all strokes cause vascular dementia. Statistics indicate that one-third individuals suffering from a stroke are prone to the development of vascular dementia. This usually happens within six months. Diabetes and high blood pressure are two medical conditions that can cause vascular dementia since they cause the blood vessels to narrow down. The risk factors for vascular dementia are many. Some of these risk factors include age, a long history of strokes,  [...]

Frontotemporal dementia is also known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Frontotemporal dementia is a term that includes a variety of disorders that are uncommon. These disorders predominantly affect the brain’s temporal and frontal lobes. These brain regions have a deep association with behavior, language, and personality. Frontotemporal dementia is characterized by atrophy or shrinkage of the frontal and temporal lobes. Frontotemporal dementia Symptoms vary from individual to individual. The region of brain damage determines the signs and symptoms. Some individuals afflicted with frontotemporal dementia experience drastic alterations in the personality. They become inappropriate in social situations. Impulsiveness and emotional indifference are also seen. Many individuals fail to understand language. Such individuals lose the art of communicating. Frontotemporal dementia is sometimes viewed as a psychiatric condition. It may also be mistaken  [...]

Of all the forms of dementia, vascular dementia is the most common. It ranks next to Alzheimer’s disease. Vascular dementia is characterized by decreased blood flow toward the brain. This is often chronic. A stroke or a series of them are responsible for this reduced blood flow. In most scenarios, the strokes are too small to gauge any symptoms. Such strokes are also called ‘silent strokes’. Over the course of time, the condition worsens, leading to extensive damage. This brain damage may lead to loss of memory, confusion, and other dementia signs. Vascular dementia poses a significant challenge for the patient as well as the caretakers. The condition needs to be properly understood. Necessary lifestyle changes must be made. These factors may prevent additional blockages. This  [...]

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe the symptoms that pertain to a large number of illnesses that could cause for eventual progressive decline in the mental functioning of a person. It is a broad term that is used to describe the loss of intellect, memory, social skills, rationality and the normal emotional reactions that a person is capable of. What is Early Onset Dementia? The term early onset dementia has been used to describe any form of dementia that is known to affect people below the age of 65 (which is generally said to be the age when dementia is said to averagely take over). The term early onset dementia or younger onset dementia is said to cover the range of illnesses that would affect a person’s thinking and memory; and these will affect only people below the age of 65. This particular group of people might actually possess important social and medical needs that haven’t really always been met in the past. Although  [...]

The Global Deterioration Scale or GDS that was developed by Dr. Barry Reisberg was said to provide caregivers all over an overview of the sort of stages involved in the decline of cognitive functioning in the case of someone suffering from a primary degenerative dementia, the likes of Alzheimer’s disease. These stages of dementia could be broken in about 7 different stages. Stages 1 – 3: Pre – dementia Stages 4 – 7: Dementia Right from stage 5 onwards, it will impossible for the individual in question to live without any sort of assistance. Within the framework of the GDS, each stage is known to correspond to a short title (for instance, early confusional, forgetfulness, etc). Caregivers can thus have a rough idea about where an individual will be in the process of a disease, by observing the sort of characteristics that he/she will be displaying and comparing them on the GDS scale. The Global Deterioration Scale – The 7 Stages of Dementia:

Read about the other types of dementia, based on the conditions that cause them. Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD): This is sometimes called frontal lobe dementia. This is the umbrella term for a number of diseases that get characterized by the degeneration of nerve cells; and especially those situated in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain. In a lot of people suffering from frontotemporal dementia, an abnormal form of tau protein might form in the brain, and this will cause for neurofibrillary tangles. Once a person has been diagnosed with the condition, it might allow him/her to live for only 5 to 10 more years. The frontal and temporal lobe are ideally responsible for controlling brain judgment and social behavior. Given this fact, people with LTD will end up stealing or might exhibit behavior that is impolite. Other symptoms would include loss of language  [...]

Dementing disorders can often be classified in various different ways. These different classifications for the types of dementia could scheme to group the disorders based on the features that they have in common; and this would include whether or not they’re progressive or what parts of the brain they will end up affecting. Types of Dementia (Based on the brain parts involved): Cortical dementia: The brain damage will occur in the cortex of the brain, i.e. its outer layer. These sorts of dementias will cause for problems related to language, thinking, memory or even social behavior. Subcortical dementia: This will affect the region right underneath the cortex. This will cause for problems related to emotional changes, and problems with memory. Progressive dementia: This type is known to get worse after a period of time. It will gradually affect more cognitive skills of the person in question. Primary  [...]

There was a time when a woman got admitted to the hospital. Her family said that she had been displaying a lot of memory problems, and she had been showing a lot of jealousy. Disoriented at most times, she had also begun hiding objects. When she was taken to the doctor, she was unable to answer questions like her husband’s name, the current year, or the time for which she’d been at the hospital. She could read whatever she’d been asked to read, but she didn’t seem to understand any of the text. She would sometimes become overly agitated and was also known to have hallucinations and phobias. This is the case of Auguste Deter, the first ever woman to have been reported to have suffered from dementia, which is a form of Alzheimer’s. This disorder of the brain is said to be named after Alois Alzheimer, who is a German doctor who was the first one to describe this condition. Auguste Deter succumbed in 1906; and her brain was used to study the rare condition she suffered from. When  [...]