Contact Us
logo-demcareslogo-demcares
Contact Us

What is Dementia

Home What is Dementia

What is dementia

Dementia as a term refers to a variety of symptoms resulting from damage to brain cells, which alters the ability of the brain to perform its regular activities. Different illnesses cause this damage to occur in different patterns, which in turn produce unique symptoms.These patterns correspond to the different types of dementia, for e.g Alzheimer’s disease, dementia in Lewy bodies etc.

Some common signs of dementia include:

  • Memory loss and thinking difficulties
  • Difficulty coping with daily tasks and functioning independently
  • Language & communication difficulties
  • Changes in mood, judgment or personality

Dementia usually occurs among the elderly population (aged 65 and above). If an individual younger than 65 is diagnosed with dementia, it is called ‘early-onset’ dementia and is quite rare.

Though memory loss generally occurs in dementia, memory loss alone doesn’t mean you have dementia. For a diagnosis of dementia, at least one more of the following core mental functions must also be significantly impaired to be considered dementia:

  • Communication and language
  • Ability to focus and pay attention
  • Reasoning and judgment
  • Visual perception
  • Orientation and comprehension

Common difficulties a person with dementia may experience

Each person is unique and experiences dementia in their own way. The way people experience dementia depends on many factors, including physical make-up, emotional resilience and the support available to them. On a general note, people with dementia may have problems with short-term memory (or remembering things that have happened in the recent past), keeping track of personal items and belongings, paying bills, preparing meals or carrying out other household activities, finding their way around familiar places, planning and remembering appointments- which can be quite frustrating for them. As the illness progresses the person may loose their ability to perform self-care functions such as bathing, brushing one’s teeth, changing clothes and recognize family and friends.

The illness affects each person differently. It is important to remember what is true of one Person with Dementia (PwD) may not necessarily be true of another PwD.

Types of dementia

In India it was estimated that in 2010 there were 37,00,000 people with dementia and this number will grow to almost 80,00,000 in 2030. That is 5 in 100 people about the age of 65 may have dementia

Some common types of Dementia are described below:

Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s dementia accounts for more than 60% of all dementia cases. Alzheimer’s disease develops gradually over a period of many years. It is common for you or your loved one to notice the symptoms starting with small memory slips here (forgetting names, leaving/loosing/misplacing important things, and there or minor difficulties in thinking and these problems seem to gradually grow over time and becoming more noticeable.This type of dementia is caused by damage to brain and nerve cells. It also affects certain chemicals which are essential for transmitting information within the brain.
Vascular Dementia
Vascular dementia
Usually results in a drastic change in the persons abilities to think and remember things over a short period of time (few days or a week). You or your loved one may be functioning fine a week or two ago but has suddenly declined (Impaired judgement, being unable to plan, organize or make decisions, showing changes in behavior or mood). This form of dementia occurs when blood vessels or arteries which supply blood to the brain are blocked or become damaged. A person with high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels or history of smoking is especially at risk for this form of dementia etc. Symptoms vary depending on which region of the brain is affected by the stroke.Physical and motor functioning can also be affected in vascular dementia.
Dementia in Lewy bodies
Dementia in Lewy bodies
A person with Lewy body dementia will demonstrate the typical symptoms of dementia such as memory deficits and thinking problems similar to Alzhiemer’s. In additions, they might have early symptoms like sleep disturbances, visual hallucinations, slowness or gait imbalance, other parkinsonian movement features (tremors, stiffness etc.) and a history of frequent falls. They may have significant fluctuations in their functioning ability on a day-to-day basis (Frequently alternating between – what is described by their carers as good and bad days – is common). Lewy bodies are proteins that sometimes get abnormally accumulated inside nerve cells which affects normal brain functioning. When the develop in a region of the brain called the cortex it can result in Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). The same proteins are seen in people with Parkinson’s disease but they appear in a different pattern from LBD.
Fronto- temporal dementia
Fronto- temporal dementia
Due to degeneration or damage of brain cells in the frontal and temporal lobes, abilities of these regions are compromised. Changes in personality and behavior, language difficulties, failure to behave in socially appropriate ways (disinhibition) along with thinking and memory problems are common. Symptoms usually develop at a younger age (around 60 onwards).

These types of dementia are among the most commonly occurring and account for at least 90% of all cases of the illness. However, it is important to note that the distinctions between these sub-types are not clear in some cases and symptoms may overlapresulting in mixed dementias. Mixed Dementia is observed when more than one cause of dementia can occur simultaneously in a person.

Apart from the above, there are some types of dementia caused by conditions that are often treatable or reversible by timely medical and/or surgical intervention. These include –

  • Depression: causes a ‘pseudo-dementia’ which can get better with antidepressants and talking therapies.
  • Toxic reactions, like excessive alcohol or drug use
  • Nutritional deficiencies, like vitamin B12 and folate deficiency
  • Endocrine disorders such as thyroid hormone problems can causememory problems

It is important to be vigilant of delirium which occurs commonly among the elderly. Delirium occurs when a person due to may have perieds of transient confusion or memory loss due to infection and many other physical health problems including constipation or dehydration. Behaviour like this must immediately be refered to a doctor and can be  reversed by initiating appropriate treatments.

Next Section
Symptoms and Diagnosis