Over time, the disease causing the dementia spreads to other parts of the brain. This leads to more symptoms because more of the brain is unable to work properly. At the same time, already-damaged areas of the brain become even more affected, causing symptoms the person already has to get worse.
Rapidly progressive dementias or RPDs are extremely rare, but can cause dementia to worsen over weeks and months. RPDs can be caused by complex medical conditions such as Autoimmune conditions, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases – i.e diseases that damage the body's nervous systems.
We warn people that alcohol augments, amplifies and accelerates any underlying dementia. Uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol. Patients with persistently high sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol are at greater risk for strokes, which will cause further brain damage and memory impairment.
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.
Signs of the final stages of dementia include some of the following: Being unable to move around on one's own. Being unable to speak or make oneself understood. Eating problems such as difficulty swallowing.
other long-term health problems – dementia tends to progress more quickly if the person is living with other conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure, particularly if these are not well-managed.
Donepezil (also known as Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon) and galantamine (Reminyl) are used to treat the symptoms of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Donepezil is also used to treat more severe Alzheimer's disease.
First, maintain a healthy diet, such as the so-called Mediterranean diet which includes fresh fruits and vegetables as well as grains. Second, ensure you exercise regularly. The Alzheimer's Research & Prevention Foundation reports that exercise can reduce chances of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as 50%.
Neurologists are trained to detect subtleties of the brain that cause memory problems. Only they can conduct a thorough neurological exam and recommend subsequent treatment for brain disorders such as Alzheimer's.
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.
There is currently no "cure" for dementia. In fact, because dementia is caused by different diseases it is unlikely that there will be a single cure for dementia. Research is aimed at finding cures for dementia-causing diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.
Although there is no defined timeframe in which rapid onset dementia can occur, many professionals in this field describe it as when patients go from having normal cognition to dementia within one year or less. However, some types of dementia can take upwards of two years.
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, frontotemporal disorders, and Lewy body and vascular dementia all cause a gradual loss of thinking abilities. They damage brain and nerve cells and can lead to pneumonia, stroke, falls, infections, and malnutrition that are often fatal.
It's important to know that late-stage dementia is a terminal illness and can lead to death. In these cases, the death certificate may list dementia as the cause of death.
Vitamins B6 and B12 are critical because they team up to form one of the best compounds for slowing down the effects of dementia. There is proof that memory-deteriorating genes can become more active due to a deficiency of these vitamins.
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.
Geriatrician, who specializes in the care of older adults and dementia.
New research has found that even 3,826 steps a day was associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Good news for those of us who often don't achieve a goal of 10,000 steps per day — walking 3,800 to 9,800 steps per day was also linked to a lower risk of dementia in a new study of adults in the United Kingdom.
Phytochemicals found in bananas help preserve nerve tissue against neurotoxins, which deteriorate nervous tissue when exposed to its substance. This may also help in preventing neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
At-home approaches include lifestyle changes, such as regular exercise, good nutrition, maintaining an active social life, doing activities that challenge the mind, and getting a good night's sleep, among others. In this post, we discuss 12 ways to treat dementia at home.
On average, a person with Alzheimer's lives four to eight years after diagnosis, but can live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors. Changes in the brain related to Alzheimer's begin years before any signs of the disease.
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.