Dementia Basics
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For more detailed information, refer to our articles on the dementias. For information on Dayspring training, please refer to the Dayspring FAQ. |
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Can you explain the difference between Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia?With pleasure, it isn't difficult - although many people seem to find it so!
Simply put, Alzheimer's Disease is one type of dementia; there are many others, although Alzheimer's is the most common. There may be up to 100 different types of dementia - it therefore makes sense to refer to them as "dementias" rather than just "dementia"!
What other sorts of dementia are there?As above, there may be 100 different sorts of dementia. Some are rare e.g. Binswanger's Encephalitis and Creuzfekd-Jakob Disease; some almost as common as Alzheimer's Disease, e.g. Multi-Infarct and other Stroke-related dementias, Dementia with Lewy Bodies. For some dementias, it is difficult to know the prevalence e.g. dementia complex attached to HIV/AIDS, dementia attached to Down's Syndrome, Pick's Disease and Korsakoff's Psychosis.
Are all dementias terminal?By definition ("Dementia is an irreversible decline in mental powers"), anyone who got better didn't have it! However, people with dementia commonly die with dementia but not of dementia. Most people will die of the "diseases of old age", e.g. pneumonia after a serious fall, rather than the dementia.
Why are there more women than men with dementia? It tends to be about one third men and two thirds women. This is not because dementias affect more women but because women tend to live longer than men. This may well change in the future.
What causes dementias?Depends on the type of dementia.
We think that Alzheimer's Disease is probably "multi-factorial": that is, it has a number of different causes, working together (age, genetics, stress, head injury, etc.). Pick's Disease is genetic, Korsakoff's Psychosis is a Vitamin B deficiency caused (usually) by alcohol abuse, Dementia with Lewy Bodies seems to be caused by a disruption to the dopamine pathways in the brain (in a similar way to Parkinson's Disease, although they are not the same), many other types of dementia are caused by lots of small strokes in the brain. There are also dementias attached to other diseases e.g. motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, Downs Syndrome. It is also possible to have more than one type of dementia at the same time. |
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Is it true that Alzheimer's Disease is hereditary?No, not really. There is a type of Alzheimer's Disease ("familial" type), which is directly genetic. This is rare and affects about 12 families in the UK and the gene is passed in the same way as in Huntington's Chorea (autonomic dominant) i.e. there is a 50% chance of getting the gene, in an affected family, at each birth. If one gets the gene, because it is dominant, it will show in "turning on" the disease. In other types of AD, there is probably a genetic component - but this can be pretty weak. I wouldn't worry.
Is it true that there will be a million people with dementia in the UK by 2020?It is actually likely that there will be more than that. Figures like this are produced by using the current "prevalence figures" and increasing them year by year. Unfortunately, the basic prevalence figures are not likely to be very accurate as many people with dementia are not formally diagnosed and a lot are not known to services. All the figures give us is a vague idea.
There are drugs available which cure dementia, aren't there?No, sorry, there aren't. There are some drugs which may help to slow Alzheimer's-type dementia down, in some people. There is, as yet, no cure - although there are some new drugs which show promise, they are not yet available to the public but are in clinical trials. It is likely to take around 5 years before the new generation of anti-Alzheimer drugs are on the market. You should note that there will be no cure for dementia, as a whole, as it consists of many different diseases. The first cure is likely to be for Alzheimer's Disease as it is the most common and is where most research effort is now being applied.
What's the difference between normal memory loss and dementia?It can sometimes be hard to tell, although a broad pattern of impairment is likelier to be indicative of a dementia than forgetfulness alone.
What's 'normal' varies very much by situation: someone experiencing prolonged stress may well suffer very distressing cognitive symptoms, known as mild cognitive impairment. MCI is in many cases reversible, but can also be an early sign of dementia. Some very treatable conditions such as hypothyroidism and high blood pressure can also cause significant cognitive deficits.
What can I do to avoid dementia?The prescription for avoiding dementia is much like that for avoiding any other effects of aging: be born with good genes, take regular, moderate exercise, avoid chronic and severe stress, eat a healthy diet, enjoy life, and, unless you have very good genes, don't live too long. |
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