Do you know what dementia is? Dementia is not a disease, but rather the collection of the symptoms that result from the damage of the brain. So, dementia is commonly involves the damage of nerve cells in the brain and thus, the symptoms of the dementia could vary between one person to another, depending on the area of the brain affected. There are a lot of types related to dementia and here are the various types of dementia:
- Alzheimer’s disease. This is the most common forms of dementia that commonly occurred in the elderly people, especially those who have the age above 65 years old. The plaques are commonly found in the brains of the people with this type of dementia.
- Vascular dementia. This is the second most common forms of dementia. This type could occur because of the damage in the vessel that will supply the blood to your brain .
- Lewy body dementia. Lewy body dementia is the abnormal clumps that commonly found in the brain of the people with this type of dementia.
- Frontotemporal dementia. This type of dementia is commonly occurring because there is some degenration on the nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, which are generally related to the people’s personality, behavior, and language.
After you know all kinds of dementia, now you also need to know all kinds of the symptoms of dementia. So, here are the various symptoms that commonly related to dementia.
- Difficulty Fiding the Right Words
This is one of the common sign of early dementia. So, whenever you have a conversation with your relatives, you always find it really difficult to find the right words that would be the best suit to express your want. In another word. you will also find it really difficult to express and explain things to other and thus, this without a doubt will effects on your overall performance. In addition to that, whenever you speak to the elderly who already have the dementia, that would be a little bit harder since it will take a longer time than usual to conclude.
- Changes in Mood
Dementia is also commonly related to the changes in the mood that occurs frequently. While you usually think that people with frequent changes in mood could have been developing the bipolar disorder, but the sign of dementia could change the mood too. We know that recognizing this symptom by yourself is pretty difficult, but you could see it in another people. People who often to have the change in their personality, for example they are very shy in certain conditions but later in the moment, they can turn the shift to become outgoing. Those kind of things could be the sign of early dementia, alongside with frequent depression feeling.
- Apathy
The apathy feeling is alos commonly related as early sign of the dementia. The apathy is the condition whenever the people are really hard to listen and catch all of the things that the other people says. Another sign of apathy is whenever your relatives or other people are starting to lose the interest of their own hobbies or activities. In another word, the people who have the apathy feeling wouldn’t go out and enjoy things any more. They barely have fun with other people. In severe cases of apathy, they will also lose the interest to have an interaction and communication with their loved ones, such as their friend and their family, and they just feel flat and just like that they don’t have any emotion at all.
- Subtle-Short Term Memory Changes
This symptom without a doubt is one of the most common symptoms related to the dementia. Whenever you have early dementia, you will start to struggle to remember the detail things that the other people say to you and you sometimes become really clumsy and forget about what kind of thing that you needed to do, or maybe you forget why you go to the particular places or rooms.
In the elderly people, the dementia would be commonly related to the their inability to remember the things that just happened to them, which commonly called as the short-term memory loss. They might will remember the things that happened several years ago, but they will find it really difficult to remember the things that just happened to them few hours even minutes ago.
- Difficulty Doing Normal Tasks
People with dementia will also frequently facing some difficulty when they’re doing their normal tasks, even the familiar one and the simple one. Dementia is indeed will affect people’s ability too complete the normal tasks. This dementia symptom will also could occur when the people become really struggle to play the game which has a lot of rules. In the severe cases of this symptom, the people will also find it really difficult to learn about new things or follow the new kind of daily routines. So, you need to always check and observe the behavior of your beloved ones, especially in the elderly.
- Confusion
This is another one of the symptoms that could be the indication that a person is suffering from the early sign of dementia. This symptom is basically pretty similar with the subtle-short term of memory loss, because whenever people are suffering from confusion, they will feel the difficult on remembering something that really simple, such as you frequently forgot where you keep your house and car keys, or maybe trying to figure out who someone is, although that person is closely related to you.
In severe confusions, you will also suffer from the difficulty of making the decision, and also you couldn’t catch the point whenever you have the conversation with other people. In addition to that, you might also wouldn’t be able to remember the face of the people that closely related to you, or even their names.
- Difficult Following Storylines
This is the symptom that classified as the sign of the early stage of dementia that commonly would occur to the elderly people. So, whenever you invite your grandparents or your father or mother to watch some kinds of movie or TV shows, and they frequently ask about the storyline, about the characters, about who is who, that means that they can’t catch the storyline, which is a classic sign of the early dementia.
Also, in addition to that, people with the early stage of dementia will often and tend to forget the meaning of the word that the other people just recently said to that, which then will make them really struggle to follow the conversation with other people.
- A Failing Sense of Direction
Whenever people have the early sign and stages of dementia, they will tend to forget the direction that the people just recently tell to them. So, whenever you find that your relatives frequently forget about the things that you tell them to do, they might suffer from the early stage of dementia.
In addition to that, those people sometimes will also forget the familiar landmarks that they commonly remember and being used to visit in past recent years. Also, they will face some difficulties to follow the step-by-step directions from the other people or from TV, or maybe they will tend to forget the directions when they want to go to some familiar places. This early sign of dementia without a doubt would make them angry and sometimes can lead to the feeling of frustration and depression.
- Being Repetitive
Frequent repetition on something could also be the indication that people have some kind of memory loss and could be the sign of early stages of dementia too, because people will tend to have the behavioral change. This kind of symptom is also commonly occurring in the elderly people.
Whenever you find that your relatives or your family started to do the same abnormal things frequently in the same day such as shavings, or maybe collecting things in the house without any apparent reason, that would be the strong indication that they suffer from the early stages of dementia. In addition to that, you might also find that people with dementia will frequently ask the same questions over and over again eventhough you are already answered their questions several times in just several hours.
- Struggling to Adapt the Change
This is also classified as the early sign of dementia, which the people will tend to struggle to adapt to change, or maybe in a whole new environment. In some cases, the people who struggle to adapt to change will feel frightened, which then will make them become completely lost, for example they will suddenly forget why they went to the particular places and they become lost in their way home because they can’t remember the way to go home anymore. Because of those things occurs to them frequently, they will be afraid to try the new things, which is the sign that they are really struggling to adapt to change.
- Loss of Impulse Control
Loss of impulse control is one of the symptom that would occur to the people whenever they have the mild or moderate stages of dementia. So, people could be considered to suffer from the loss of impulse control whenever they always behave improperly in the some places, even in the public places. For example, the people with the loss of impulse control will undress themselves in inappropriate condition and time, such as in public places or maybe, they will undress themselves whenever it is very cold outside. In addition to that, people with the loss of impulse control would using vulgar language without any hesitation at all to other people, even their close relatives.
- Doesn’t Remember About Anything
This is one of the most frightening symptoms whenever the people have the later stages of dementia. So, people with the later stages of dementia wouldn’t know everything and they couldn’t recognise all of their close relatives such as families, friends, and even their spouses as well. In addition to that, the people in the later stages of dementia will also couldn’t find the answer where they are right at the moment and why they went to such places. They will also couldn’t remember the simple piece of information that other people are saying to them in just several minutes ago.
- Hard to Communicate
Symptoms of Dementia which many people donot aware of is hard to communicate. The problem with communication is also one of the most common things that will happen with the people at the later stages of dementia. The people in the later stages of dementia will be very difficult to communicate with because they would be unable to process the information quick enough and they might will eventually lose their ability to communicate with the other people.
Whenever you have the beloved ones that suffer from dementia and they become really hard to be communicated with, it is very important to you that you keep trying to communicate with them and teach them to communicate using the non-verbal thing, such as with some gestures, expression, and touch. Here are the tips for you to communicate with your relatives that have the later stage of dementia:
- Being patient and remain calm, make them become comfortable to try to communicate with you. Don’t make them scared.
- Keeping your tone voice calm and friendly, so that they will feel more comfortable.
- Talking to them at the respectful distance so that they won’t feel too intimidated.
- Holding their hand with the soft touch whenever you’re trying to communicate with them to show some affections, which without a doubt will make them become more comfortable to communicate with you.
- Mobility Problems
People with the later stages of dementia would also commonly suffer from the mobility problems. The meaning of mobility problems is whenever the people with dementia slowly become unable to move with their own initiative and also, they will do some clumsy things whenever they carry something or doing the everyday tasks, even the most familiar tasks they used to do everyday. People with the later stages of dementia that have some mobility problems will also become unable to move with their own legs, which make them become dependent on the wheelchair.
So, the things that you should do whenever you have the relatives that suffer from the later stages of dementia and have the mobility problems is always handled them with care and patient. You need to help them to do various kinds of activities with some kinds of affection since they’re unable to do theings on their own again, such as get in and out of the bed, go to the toilet, or accompany them if they want to go around the house. You might need for someone else help to look after them whenever you feel that you couldn’t handle it alone, but the most important thing is always handled them with calm, friendly, and patient.
- Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence is also one of the most common things that would happen whenever you have the later stage of dementia. So, urinary incontinence is the condition that commonly described whenever the body has loss control of the bladder. This condition is mainly caused by the aging, since the most common people that suffer from this condition are people who already 50 years old or over. The reason behind this condition is that whenever you are already getting older, the bladder muscle will be weakened and thus, incontinence will be more likely to appear.
So, in case that your beloved ones suffer from the later stages of dementia and started to suffer from urinary incontinence, call the doctor to come to their home and check them in the house would be the wise choice so that they will be able to make some recommendation how to strengthen their pelvic muscle. You need to make sure that you make a clear path on the way to the toilet so that your beloved one will be easier when they want to go to the toilet.
- Loss of Appetite
Whenever the people suffer from the later stage of dementia, they will be more likely to suffer from the loss of appetite. So, the people with dementia need the help from other people just to make sure that they’re remembered to have the meals because whenever you don’t remember them to have the meals, they won’t have the meals because they have some kind of loss in appetite. So, it is your job to always notice your beloved ones who have the dementia to have the meals everyday. For some people with the later stages of dementia, they will tend to have the difficulty in swallowing and thus, this could lead them to choking, chest infections, and other problems.
- Exacerbation of Behavioral Symptoms
This is also the symptoms that commonly classified as the mild dementia symptoms. So, people who have the dementia would be more likely to feel the behavioral symptoms such as restlessness, agitation, anxiety, tearfulness, and wandering. Commonly, most of the people who are suffering from those symptoms would feel those symptoms in the late afternoon or even in the evening, which this condition is commonly called as sundowning.
- Symptoms Specific to Dementia with Lewy Bodies
As already mentioned above, there is a progressive dementia called dementia with the Lewy bodies. So, the symptoms of the dementia with the lewy bodies basically pretty similar with the symptoms that already mentioned above, which the people who have the dementia with the Lewy bodies will experience the difficulties with the concentration and visual perception. In addition to that, they might also experience:
- Slowed movement, trouble with the mobility
- Recurrent visual hallucination, which is the thing that would occur whenever they see things that actually doesn’t exist.
- Sleep disturbance, for example feeling sleepy during the day frequently.
- Fainting and unsteadiness.
- Symptoms Specific to Vascular Dementia
The other progressive dementia that would occur is the vascular dementia. So, everyone of you might wonder what kind of symptoms that could be the obvious sign that someone have the vascular dementia? So, in the case that the people have vascular dementia, the symptoms would develop suddenly and then it will get worse in a short amount of time, but they can also develop gradually over many months or years too in the rare case.
So, whenever the people have the vascular dementia, they will suffer from the symptoms just like whenever the people have the stroke, which is including paralysis on one side within their body alongside with the similar symptoms that already mentioned above, such as trouble with language, problems with concentration, and mood changes.
- Symptoms Specific to Frontotemporal Dementia
The symptoms of the people who are suffering from the frontotemporal dementia basically are pretty similar with the common and general dementia, that already mentioned above. So, in case people have the frontotemporal dementia, they will be more likely to develop these kinds of behaviour things:
- They become less sensitive with other people’s emotions and will make other people feel cold and unfeeling because the people with frontotemporal dementia wouldn’t care about other people’s problems.
- They will make some kinds of inappropriate behaviour to their relatives, such as making the inappropriate comments and with a rude language to their relatives too.
- They also could have the difficulty in language, which make them will speak less than usual and they will also find it really hard to find the right word whenever they have the conversations with other people.
How to Treat Dementia
So, after you already know all of the symptoms of dementia, now you might wonder how to treat it in case that you or your beloved ones already suffer from dementia. So, here are the common treatments related to dementia:
- Taking the drugs that prescribed by your doctor. So, in case you have the Alzheimer’s disease, the doctor will commonly prescribed you with some medications such as donepezil, galantamine, memantine, and rivastigmine to relieve the symptoms of it.
- Taking additional medications. Additional medications such as citalopram valproate, mirtazepine, carbamazepine, and sertraline would also be beneficial to relieve the symptoms that commonly related to dementia.
- Taking antidepressants and stimulants. Taking these drugs would be very beneficial to control the behaviour problems associated with loss of judgement and confusion, which are the symptoms of the people with dementia.
How to Prevent Dementia
So, after you know all of the symptoms and the treatment of dementia, you might also want to know what you should do so that you won’t be suffering from dementia later in your life. Unfortunately, most of dementia cases are totally unpreventable, but many researchers right at the moment still searching for the best medications to delay and prevent dementia. But, following these tips might be very beneficial for you to prevent the dementia or delay the progress of dementia whenever you’re getting old. Check these following tips.
- Go to the Doctor Immediately. So, whenever you feel that you become lack of focuses whenever doing a lot of things and also you feel that you suffer from the symptoms that already mentioned above, you need to check your condition to the doctor immediately, since the lack of focus whenever you doing something is could be the sign of the early stages of dementia.
- Diet. Studies have shown that certain foods could suppress the degeneration of the brain, so whenever you consume the particular foods, you might be stay away from dementia in the elderly period. Consuming a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and healthy fats would be beneficial for you who want to stay away with dementia.
- Mental Exercise. So, the studies also shown that by keeping the brain active, the possibility of you having the dementia. Because of those studies, keeping the brain stay active all the time is the must thing to do. You could keep the brain stay active and sharp by playing the puzzles, or learn something new, such as dancing, singing, or anything else, as long as those things are new for you.
- Quitting Smoking. Some doctors also indicate that smoking would definitely increase the risk of developing the dementia in the future. So, in case you ‘re still smoking right now, stop it immediately if you want to stay away from dementia in the future.
- Taking Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs). Taking NSAIDs such as ibuprofen naproxen, and other similar drugs would be very beneficial to delay the onset of dementia in the future because these drugs would protect you from inflammation and prevent the new formation of plaques.
Now you already know all you need to know related to the dementia disease. So, although this disease is commonly unpreventable, but you still could reduce the risk of having the dementia by applying the tips that already mentioned above. Stay Healthy!