For many years, individuals with frontotemporal dementia show muscle weakness and coordination problems, leaving them needing a wheelchair — or unable to leave the bed.
In the late stage of Alzheimer's, the person typically becomes unable to walk.
In vascular dementia, problems walking or balancing can happen early. With Alzheimer's, these symptoms usually occur late in the disease.
A declining walking pace or speed could be an early indication of cognitive decline and dementia, according to a recent study. Those who walk more slowly and show declining cognitive function like memory loss are at a higher risk of developing dementia.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease causes a type of dementia that gets worse unusually fast. More common causes of dementia, such as Alzheimer's, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia, typically progress more slowly.
The person in the late stage of Alzheimer's will experience: Severe impairment in memory, processing new information and recognizing time and place, Losing capacity for recognizable speech and. The loss of the ability to eat, walk and use the toilet without assistance.
Dementia inhibits the ability to walk
Dementia can affect areas of the brain that are responsible for movement and balance. Many individuals affected by Alzheimer's and other types of dementia gradually lose the ability to walk and perform everyday tasks.
Gait disorders are more prevalent in dementia than in normal aging and are related to the severity of cognitive decline. Dementia-related gait changes (DRGC) mainly include decrease in walking speed provoked by a decrease in stride length and an increase in support phase.
As the disease progresses, the damage to a person's brain becomes more extensive and they gradually become weaker and frailer over time. As a result, a person with dementia may find it quite exhausting to do relatively simple tasks like communicating, eating or trying to understand what is going on around them.
As more strokes occur and dementia progresses, people may have other symptoms due to the strokes. An arm or a leg may become weak or paralyzed.
When the person with Alzheimer's can't move. During the later stages of Alzheimer's disease, a person may lose the ability to move and spend much of his or her time in a bed or chair. This lack of movement can cause problems such as pressure sores or bedsores, and stiffness of the arms, hands, and legs.
Importantly, I found that the people with Lewy body dementia had a unique walking pattern that distinguished them from those with Alzheimer's disease. Their steps were even more variable and asymmetric when they walked.
I found that people with both types of dementia could be distinguished from the normal ageing group based on their walking pattern. They walked slower with shorter steps, were more variable and asymmetric, and spent longer with both feet on the ground compared to control subjects.
If the person's mental abilities or behaviour changes suddenly over a day or two, they may have developed a separate health problem. For example, a sudden deterioration or change may be a sign that an infection has led to delirium. Or it may suggest that someone has had a stroke.
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.
What is ataxia? Ataxia is a loss of muscle control. People with ataxia lose muscle control in their arms and legs. This may lead to a lack of balance, coordination, and trouble walking.
Vascular dementia and mobility difficulties often go hand in hand. Vascular dementia is degenerative meaning it gets worse over time although it may be possible to slow progression and to better manage symptoms.
One of the most common causes of death for people with dementia is pneumonia caused by an infection. A person in the later stages of dementia may have symptoms that suggest that they are close to death, but can sometimes live with these symptoms for many months.
Frontotemporal disorders (FTD), sometimes called frontotemporal dementia, are the result of damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Many possible symptoms can result, including unusual behaviors, emotional problems, trouble communicating, difficulty with work, or difficulty with walking.
The most well-known form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, is just one specific type of dementia, and tends to have the slowest progression of all types.
I'm going to discuss five of the most basic ones here: 1) Don't tell them they are wrong about something, 2) Don't argue with them, 3) Don't ask if they remember something, 4) Don't remind them that their spouse, parent or other loved one is dead, and 5) Don't bring up topics that may upset them.
Administration: The examiner reads a list of 5 words at a rate of one per second, giving the following instructions: “This is a memory test. I am going to read a list of words that you will have to remember now and later on. Listen carefully. When I am through, tell me as many words as you can remember.
A person with dementia's abilities may change from day to day, or even within the same day. What is certain though is that the person's abilities will deteriorate; this may happen rapidly in a period of a few months or slowly over a number of years.