About 75% of people who are diagnosed with dementia will have either Alzheimer’s or vascular dementia, or a combination of the two. There less common forms of dementia include dementia with Lewy bodies, fronto-temporal dementia (Pick’s disease), Huntington’s disease, alcohol-related dementias, and HIV/AIDS-related dementia. Alzheimer’s usually affects the elderly population and is a degenerative neurogical disorder and genetic factors are considered the greatest factors in the development of the disease. This conditions begins gradually and worsens progressively over several years. It is caused by nerve cells dying in certain areas of the brain and the connections between the affected nerve cells deteriorate.
The medical model of dementia the medical model refers to what the clinical approach to dementia is for example how the changes in the brain happen, when the occur and how the condition is managed and what medication is used to manage it. Dementia as a clinical syndrome is characterised by global cognitive impairment,which represents a decline from previous level of functioning, and is associated withimpairment in functional abilities and, in many cases, behavioural and psychiatricdisturbances. a syndrome due to disease of the brain, usually of a chronic or progressive nature, in which there is disturbance of multiple higher cortical functions, including memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capability, language, and judgement. Consciousness is not impaired. Impairments of cognitive function are commonly accompanied, occasionally preceded, by deterioration in emotional control, social behaviour, or motivation.
In general, a brain affected by Dementia produces less of some neurotransmitter. which sets off an imbalance in the brain. For Example, In Alzheimer's, Too little Dopamine effects the acetylcholine levels in the body and starts to block receptors , disabling the brain to reach the right signal to the intended brain cell. Amino Acids, Monoamines, Trace amines, Peptides and Gasotransmitters are some of the endogenous chemicals who’s function it is to allow the transmission of signals from one neuron to the next neuron across the synaptic Cleft. Only 100 chemical messengers have been found to date.
At first, people just thought these obvious symptoms of forgetfulness were just another part of old age. Sadly, as the years go by, and the number of sufferers increase, it has become painfully obvious that Alzheimer’s is a disease – an incurable disease. It was 1901 when a German psychiatrist, Alois Alzheimer (from whom the disease takes its name) first diagnosed an older lady with the disease. She was 50 years old at the time. For five years, he followed her case.
UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS AND EXPERIENCE OF DEMENTIA Task A 1. For each of the following forms of dementia, describe: • How is the brain affected • The symptoms an individual might experience. Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disease. Most patients start exhibiting symptoms after they reach the age of 60. Alzheimer's disease affects the brain through exponentially greater cell death and tissue loss, resulting in a decreased brain size.
Most mental health experts agree that when depression is severe, medication can be helpful, even life saving. Other studies show that the benefits of depression medication have been exaggerated. When it comes to mild to moderate depression, antidepressants are only slightly more effective than Natural Cures. They altar chemicals in the brain like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine causing the body to be more prone to side
Senile Dementia 3 Introduction Senile dementia is mental deterioration that is associated with old age and is caused by a degeneration of brain cells. Roeltgen writes, “Dementia is an impairment of thinking and memory that interferes with a person’s ability to do things which he or she previously was able to do”. Senile dementia is different then normal age-related forgetfulness. With normal age-related forgetfulness, you may joke about memory loss or may momentarily forget where you placed the car keys. With senile dementia, you may have little or no awareness of cognitive problems and you may not know what a car key is or may put it in an inappropriate place.
Dementia Awareness Understand what dementia is. 1) Dementia is where there is a decline of the brain and its abilities, it is caused when the brain is damaged by disease, for example, Alzheimer’s disease, damage to the brain or a series of strokes. There are several types of dementia these include, vascular, Alzheimer’s, lewy bodies, fronto-temporal. 2) Areas affected by dementia are memory loss, speed of thinking, mental agility, language, understanding and judgement. 3) Other conditions such as depression and delirium both have similar symptoms as dementia.
Memory is the most common cognitive ability lost with dementia. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (slide 71) is the most common cause of dementia in western countries and Japan, representing more than half of demented patients. Vascular disease is the second most common cause of dementia in the U.S. and Japan. Most common forms of dementia are progressive, and currently there is no effective treatment to stop or reverse the progression of the disease. Incidence of most dementia increases with age.
In addition to this, the connections between affected nerve cells deteriorate. As the disease progresses, it spreads and affects cells in other parts of the brain. Day to day memory problems are first noticed but other symptoms include not knowing the right words anymore, problem solving, decision making or 3 dimensional perception. * Vascular dementia is caused when the brain is deprived of oxygen. This happens when the arteries which carry oxygenated blood to the brain can't get there and the brain, or part of it, dies.