Getting a diagnosis of dementia can give you a better understanding of the condition and what to expect. Timely diagnosis can help you make important decisions about treatment, support and care. You may have been living with memory problems or other symptoms for some time.
Getting a diagnosis gives you and your family the best chance to prepare for the future. With treatment and support from healthcare professionals, family, and friends, many people are able to lead active, fulfilling lives with dementia.
People with dementia can live meaningful and productive lives for many years after an early diagnosis. Dementia diagnosed early helps both the person and family members to learn about the disease, set realistic expectations and plan for their future together.
The average life expectancy figures for the most common types of dementia are as follows: Alzheimer's disease – around eight to 10 years. Life expectancy is less if the person is diagnosed in their 80s or 90s. A few people with Alzheimer's live for longer, sometimes for 15 or even 20 years.
If they're alert enough, they'll realize they made a mistake and feel bad about it. Even if they don't understand their error, correcting them may embarrass or be otherwise unpleasant for them. Don't Argue With the Person: It's never a good idea to argue with a person who has dementia.
It is recommended that a person with dementia be told of their diagnosis. However, a person has a right not to know their diagnosis if that is their clear and informed preference.
Many people with Alzheimer's continue to live successfully on their own during the early stage of the disease. Making simple adjustments, taking safety precautions and having the support of others can make things easier.
increasing confusion or poor judgment. greater memory loss, including a loss of events in the more distant past. needing assistance with tasks, such as getting dressed, bathing, and grooming. significant personality and behavior changes, often caused by agitation and unfounded suspicion.
The key things that affect life expectancy include: Age: Most people with dementia are elderly and may be affected by other illnesses and chronic conditions. The frail elderly are more vulnerable to falls, infections and other diseases which could, unfortunately, cause an earlier death.
In the early stages of dementia you may be able to live at home, continuing to enjoy doing the things you have always done and having an active social life. As the illness progresses, it's likely that you'll need extra help with daily activities, such as housework, shopping and cooking.
Early-onset Alzheimer disease currently has no cure. But healthcare providers have been successful in helping people maintain their mental function, control behavior, and slow the progress of the disease.
Depression, nutritional deficiencies, side-effects from medications and emotional distress can all produce symptoms that can be mistaken as early signs of dementia, such as communication and memory difficulties and behavioural changes.
Common early symptoms of dementia
memory loss. difficulty concentrating. finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks, such as getting confused over the correct change when shopping. struggling to follow a conversation or find the right word.
If you have just been diagnosed with dementia, you may feel numb, scared, and find it difficult to take everything in. Give yourself time to adjust to what a dementia diagnosis means for you. You may find it helpful to talk to a counsellor at a memory clinic, if a local clinic offers this type of support.
The Mini-Cog test.
A third test, known as the Mini-Cog, takes 2 to 4 minutes to administer and involves asking patients to recall three words after drawing a picture of a clock. If a patient shows no difficulties recalling the words, it is inferred that he or she does not have dementia.
Presumably, physicians were reluctant to make the diagnosis of dementia because of concerns about the potential negative impact of that diagnosis on a patient and their families; thus, they endorsed deferring a diagnosis until they were more certain.
Stage 6. In stage 6 of dementia, a person may start forgetting the names of close loved ones and have little memory of recent events. Communication is severely disabled and delusions, compulsions, anxiety, and agitation may occur.
However, here's what we do know about Alzheimer's disease and life expectancy. According to researchers, life expectancy for those 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease varies between four to eight years after diagnosis but some live as long as 20 years.
Many people affected by dementia are concerned that they may inherit or pass on dementia. The majority of dementia is not inherited by children and grandchildren. In rarer types of dementia there may be a strong genetic link, but these are only a tiny proportion of overall cases of dementia.
Introduction: The five-word test (5WT) is a serial verbal memory test with semantic cuing. It is proposed to rapidly evaluate memory of aging people and has previously shown its sensitivity and its specificity in identifying patients with AD.
In the earlier stages, memory loss and confusion may be mild. The person with dementia may be aware of — and frustrated by — the changes taking place, such as difficulty recalling recent events, making decisions or processing what was said by others. In the later stages, memory loss becomes far more severe.
Some possible causes include: Autoimmune diseases (conditions that over-activate the immune system) Unusual presentations of more common neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer's disease) Prion diseases (rare forms of neurodegenerative disease)
A person with dementia should stop living alone if they're experiencing injuries, wandering outside the home, or otherwise putting themselves in dangerous situations. Ask yourself whether your senior family member's safety needs are being met and if extra assistance will keep them safe.
Health Risks of Loneliness
Social isolation was associated with about a 50% increased risk of dementia. Poor social relationships (characterized by social isolation or loneliness) was associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke.
People with very mild Alzheimer's may be able to drive safely in certain conditions. But as memory and decision-making skills worsen, they need to stop because a driver with dementia may not be able to react quickly when faced with a surprise on the road.