Understand the Process and Experience of Dementia

4891 Words20 Pages
NFCE Level 3 Preparing to work in Adult Social Care Unit 13 understand the process and experience of dementia 1.1 Dementia is not a specific disease. It's an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of cases. Vascular dementia which occurs after a stroke is the second most common dementia type. But there are many other conditions that can cause symptoms of dementia, including some that are reversible, such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies. Dementia is often incorrectly referred to as "senility" or "senile dementia," which reflects the formerly widespread but incorrect belief that serious mental decline is a normal part of aging. Dementia may be caused by : alcoholism, brain injury, drug abuse, side effects to certain medication, thyroid function abnormalities, vitamin B12 deficiency, in korsakoffs, prolonged alcohol abuse is to blame, in vascular dementia, clots and strokes cause abnormal functioning to the effected area of the brain, which is often at the front, above the eyes which effects inhibition and judgement, in lewy body dementia, abnormal clusters of protein cause Parkinson like symptoms, picks disease occurs after trauma to the front section of the brain, starting out with personality and behaviour changes and followed by memory loss. 1.2 While symptoms of dementia can vary greatly, at least two of the following core mental functions must be significantly impaired to be considered
Open Document