Papers On Dementia

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DEMENTIA Dementia is not a disease in itself but is the word used to describe a set of symptoms that occur when specific disease damages the brain. These symptoms include : memory loss, mood swings, difficulties with language, decision making and reasoning. There are many causes and types of dementia but the symptoms are often the same. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and occurs when nerve cells in the brain are damaged. There is also a chemical imbalance within the make-up of the brain. These nerve cells are called Neurons and they carry information around the brain. The damaged neurons break down and some of the information in the brain is lost. The second most common dementia is vascular dementia.…show more content…
This can be caused by a stroke or hardening or thickening of the artery walls which impedes the flow of blood. The vascular system can also be damaged by heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. The brain cells eventually die and this leads to the onset of vascular dementia. If these conditions are treated early enough the onset of dementia may be delayed or even halted. There are different types of vascular dementia and they are dependent on which part of the brain has been damaged and how the damage was caused, as different parts of the brain control different functions of the mind and body. There are some symptoms which are the same but that occur at different stages with different dementias - in vascular dementia, issues with balance and walking can happen early on. With Alzheimer's, these symptoms usually occur later in the disease. New research shows that alzheimers and other forms of dementia in older people may be physical rather than mental. Dementia symptoms will vary from person to person as will the speed at which it develops. It is usually only diagnosed by a series of cognitive tests and brain scans which are carried out by a

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