Dementia
Dementia is the loss of cognitive functions because of head trauma or brain disease. The condition affects the ability to make decisions, process memories, reason and communicate verbally. Dementia can also result in mood, personality, and behavioral changes depending on the part of the brain that is afflicted.
The exact cause of dementia has not yet been discovered, but several factors are known to contribute to its onset:
1) old age – the most common cause
2) inheriting genes associated with Alzheimer’s or Huntington’s disease
3) heart disease
4) kidney failure
5) vitamin deficiencies
6) brain tumors
Friends and family of the affected individual are often the
first to recognize dementia. Early symptoms usually include memory loss and
difficulty performing tasks with multiple steps. The affected individual may
also get lost while driving, forget what he or she is talking about in the
middle of a conversation or experience extreme anxiety. As dementia becomes
worse it may interrupt or slow daily activities, or may even make them
impossible to perform alone.
Treatments
Treatment options vary from person to person, but early
detection of dementia assists doctors in prescribing the most effect
medication. Currently, the following drugs are approved in the
• tacrine (as found in Cognex)
• donepezil (Aricept)
• rivastigmine (Exelon)
• galantamine (Reminyl)
• memantine (Namenda)
Besides drugs, extra care may be necessary for dementia sufferers. Programs include:
1) respite care – gives the main caregiver some temporary time off
2) retirement communities – gives the sufferer the fastest access to care
3) meals on wheels – if cooking becomes too much of
a challenge, a program like this
can bring cooked food to a sufferer’s home
4) adult day care – for those who will not consent to living away from home, these programs can provide close care and companionship for a few hours a day
