Dementia is a collection of symptoms including memory loss, personality change, and impaired intellectual functions resulting from disease or trauma to the brain. These changes are not part of normal aging and are severe enough to impact daily living, independence, and relationships. There will likely be noticeable decline in communication, learning, remembering, and problem solving. These changes may occur quickly or very slowly over time. Common signs and symptoms of dementia include: * Memory loss * Impaired judgment
Unit 51 Understand and Enable Interaction and Communication With Individuals who have Dementia 1 Understand the factors that can affect interaction and communication of individuals with dementia. 1.1 Explain how different forms of dementia may affect the way an individual communicates Dementia is a progressive illness that usually occurs over a period of time. One of the earliest signs of dementia is problems with an individual’s memory, this can result in the individual behaving and communicating differently. Because there are so many different types of dementia the signs and symptoms of these can vary widely, because of this the communication abilities of the individual will vary greatly. Each for of dementia will have certain symptoms that may be relevant to that disease but some symptoms may be present in more than one form of dementia.
Some types of dementia can be cured partially or completely with treatment. The degree of reversibility often depends on how quickly the underlying cause is detected and treated. Other types of dementia are irreversible and cannot be cured, most notably dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease accounts for about 50-70% of all dementia cases2, and vascular dementia accounts for between 15-20%. While Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, the term dementia is not synonymous with Alzheimer's disease.
Outcome 1 1. Explain how different forms of dementia may affect the way an individual communicates Dementia is a progressive illness that over time will affect a person's ability to remember and understand basic everyday facts, such as names, dates and places. Dementia will gradually affect the way the person communicates. Their ability to present rational ideas and to reason clearly will change. People who care for dementia sufferers may find that as the illness progresses they will have to start discussions to get the person to make conversation.
UNIT 13 Dementia Awareness 1- Understand what dementia is 1.1 Explain what is meant by th term 'dementia' The term 'dementia' describes a set of symptoms which include loss of memory, mood changes, and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms occur when the brain is damaged by certain diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and damage caused by a series of small strokes. Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse. How fast dementia progresses will depend on the individual person and what type of dementia they have. Each person is unique and will experience dementia in their own way.
Understand the neurology of dementia Dementia is a general term for loss of memory and other mental abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life. It is caused by physical changes in the brain. Alzimers is most common type of dementia; accounts for an estimated 60 to 80 percent of all cases. Symptoms, difficulty remembering recent conversations, names or events is often an early clinical symptom, apathy and depression are also often early symptoms, later symptoms include impaired communication, poor judgment, disorientation, confusion, behavior changes and difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking. It is not known exactly what causes this process to begin, although people with Alzheimer's disease have been found to have abnormal amounts of protein (amyloid plaques), fibres (tau tangles) and a chemical called acetylcholine in the brain.These reduce the effectiveness of healthy neurons (nerve cells that carry messages to and from the brain), gradually destroying them.
Moving the eyes upwards can be due to old age, but difficulty in moving them down is the key. Other symptoms include falling backwards, balance problems, slow movements, irritability, apathy and depression. Corticobasal degeneration is a rare form of dementia. It can affect the brain in many different places. One common sign is losing the ability to move a limb.
Rarer forms of dementia are: Fronto temperal dementia which is brain damage usually focused in the front or temporal parts of the brain. This tends to affect younger people and men. Types of this dementia include Picks disease and dementia associated with motor neurone disease. It tends to affect personality and behaviour initially, more than memory. The types of memory impairment commonly experienced by people with dementia are: Memory problems such as short term memory or memory recall i.e.
Not all people who have dementia are always forgetful and some types, such as fronto-temporal dementia, are far less forgetful than Alzheimer’s disease. Their memory remains intact however their personality and behaviour noticeably changes. Lewy body’s dementia affects the brain from functioning normally and affects the person’s memory, speech and concentration. This type of dementia is very similar to Parkinson’s disease as the symptoms can include tremors, slow movements and speech. People who have vascular dementia can suffer from incontinence or seizures where other types of dementia may not affect
1.2 Describe the types of memory impairment commonly experienced by individuals with dementia Definition: Individuals: someone requiring care or support. Dementia is a collection of symptoms including memory loss, personality change, and impaired intellectual functions resulting from disease or trauma to the brain. These changes are not part of normal aging and are severe enough to impact on individuals daily living, independence, and relationships. Individuals affected with dementia are bound to experience some difficulties which can impact on their perceptions, relationships, and their priorities inevitably changes over time. However, certain types of dementia can be treated or reversed if caught in time.