People experiencing vascular dementia will, like those with Alzheimer’s disease, have problems with learning, remembering, recognition, planning and problem solving. However, there is a major difference in the two diseases. Alzheimer’s disease tends to affect the whole of the brain and to progress gradually and steadily. Vascular dementia tends to affect only certain areas of the brain, and this means someone may retain more of their abilities – and also more awareness of their condition. Dementia syndrome or ‘mixed dementia’are terms for a condition in which abnormalities characteristic of more than one type of dementia occur simultaneously in the brain.
Generally, this type of amnesia is temporary, and gradually restoration of memory is very common. The areas of the brain that are impaired in retrograde amnesia, the hippocampus, the temporal lobe, and the prefrontal cortex, are associated with primarily declarative and episodic memory. Apparently what occurs is that the brains consolidation process is disrupted; therefore, that area of the brain loses memory of events that were not fully stored. In contrast, anterograde amnesia refers to the loss of memory from the time of the injury, or illness, forward. For example, a victim in an accident resulting in head injury may have difficulty remembering anything new.
Understanding the neurology of dementia 1a Describe a range of causes of dementia syndrome. Causes of dementia include: Alzheimer’s disease, vascular (multi-Infarct) disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, fronto-temporal dementia (including pick’s disease), alcohol-related dementia (including Korsakoff’s syndrome) and Aids-related dementia. Dementia is caused by damage to the brain cells. The brain is built up of different areas that is responsible for different functions i.e. memory, judgement and movement.
Dementia with Lewy Bodies can be closely related to Parkinsons Disease and there is a theory that Dementia with Lewy Bodies interferes with two neurotransmitters called dopamine and acetylcholine which assist in the brains functions. In Frontotemporal dementia – Picks Disease, the brain shrinks in the frontal and temporal lobes and a build of specific protein’s occur in these areas. Once the proteins come together, they become toxic and cause brain cells to die. It is not understood why these proteins build up. There are other dementia types too, namely Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) caused by an abnormal infectious protein call Prion which cause nerve damage to
Unit: Dementia Awareness This unit must be assessed in accordance with Skills for Care and Development’s Assessment Principles. Learning Outcome 1: Understand what dementia is Assessment Criteria 1.1. Explain what is meant by the term ‘dementia’ Dementia is a term used to describe a range of signs and symptoms that occur when the brain is affected. Chemical and structural changes in the brain damage and kill brain cells, dementia is a progressive disease and this simply means that the symptoms will gradually get worse. Neurons and synapses become damaged by dementia they may be unable to carry messages that tell a section of the brain what to do.
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.
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.
Dementia Awareness Unit 237 Dementia is a condition which is the gradual loss of brain function, this also makes it degenerative. It can include symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, problems with speech and understanding. Dementia at the moment has no cure, as it has a number of diseases that coincide with it. Alzheimer’s is part of dementia. Functions that are affected by dementia are; Short term Memory loss, Language skills, the ability to interpret information, spatial skills, judgement and attention.
Understand the process and experience of dementia Definition of dementia is a syndrome usually of a chronic or progressive nature in which there is deterioration in cognitive function, thinking, orientation, comprehension, and calculation, learning capacity, language and judgement. Dementia is caused by damage in brain. The most common cause of dementia is called neurodegenerative diseases that include Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Huntington disease, Front temporal dementia and dementia with lewy bodies. With this disease the brain cell degenerate and die more quickly than normal ageing process, these decline a persons mental and some times physical abilities. The gradual changes and damage to the brain cells are caused by a build up of abnormal proteins in the brain.
1.1 Explain what is meant by the term ‘dementia’. Dementia is a condition which is described by a number of symptoms and is a progressive decline of mental abilities and cognitive function as well as changes in personality, mood, communication and behaviour. Dementia is caused by chemical and structural changes within the brain as well as brain injury. 1.2 Describe the key functions of the brain that are affected by dementia. Dementia can affect the following key functions of the brain: - Temporal lobe - Parietal lobe - Frontal lobe - Occipital lobe - Hippocampus - Cerebrum lobe These all affect the function of: -Memory -Emotion -Cognitive skills -Perception -Behaviour -Communication -Senses and movement 1.3 Explain why depression, delirium and age related memory impairment may be mistaken for dementia.