Common symptoms of dementia include: confusion and needing help with daily tasks – such as shopping or paying bills. problems with language and understanding – including often being unable to find the right word, or having trouble following a conversation.
The most common symptoms of vascular dementia include problems with problem-solving, slowed thinking, and loss of focus and organization. These tend to be more noticeable than memory loss.
Frontotemporal dementia inevitably gets worse over time and the speed of decline differs from person to person. For many years, individuals with frontotemporal dementia show muscle weakness and coordination problems, leaving them needing a wheelchair — or unable to leave the bed.
Change in routine
People with dementia often rely on their routines as a source of comfort. A daily routine helps a person know what to expect. This means that a sudden disruption in routine may cause dementia symptoms to get worse. This is especially true if a person experiences stress.
Confusion is one of the leading causes of anger and aggression in people with Alzheimer's and dementia. Confusion can arise from a lost train of thought, going to a new place, meeting new people, mixed-up memories, too many choices, or a sudden change in the environment, such as a shift from one caregiver to another.
Over time, everything they have learned over their lifetime might disappear from their memory. Someone with dementia may find it really difficult to do things like getting dressed, washing, eating or going to the toilet. They might not know where they are, and get lost easily.
Each branch is slightly different from one another, but they still belong to the same tree. This guide will look at four different types of dementia: Alzheimer's disease (AD), Vascular Dementia (VaD), Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).
The risk of developing Alzheimer's or vascular dementia appears to be increased by many conditions that damage the heart and blood vessels. These include heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Work with your doctor to monitor your heart health and treat any problems that arise.
Person-centered care for people with dementia emphasizes the importance of caring for all aspects of a person's well-being--social, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs in addition to diagnoses and physical and medical needs.
Dementia is not a specific disease but is rather a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interferes with doing everyday activities. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. Though dementia mostly affects older adults, it is not a part of normal aging.
Memory problems
This can cause challenging situations, for example, if they ask to see someone who is no longer alive. People with dementia in the later stages may also stop recognising familiar places, objects, and people. A person may not recognise themselves in a mirror, nor a close friend or family member.
Agitation (physical or verbal aggression, general emotional distress, restlessness, pacing, shredding paper or tissues and/or yelling). Delusions (firmly held belief in things that are not real). Hallucinations (seeing, hearing or feeling things that are not there).
SPECAL sense begins with three Golden Rules: Don't ask direct questions. Listen to the expert – the person with dementia – and learn from them. Don't contradict.
Care, Compassion, Courage, Commitment, Competence and Communication carry many different meanings within the care setting. They are our building blocks for improving care and collaborations amongst the multi-disciplinary teams that we work with.
The 7 'A's of Dementia, or anosognosia, amnesia, aphasia, agnosia, apraxia, altered perception and apathy, represent changes that can happen in dementia patients because of damage to their brain(opens in a new tab).
The 5-word memory test is a verbal test used to evaluate memory in seniors and evaluate for potential Alzheimer's disease or other cognitive declines. The test is administered by a doctor who asks the participant to remember a list of five common words and then repeat it back after some time has passed.
Dementia describes a variety of brain disorders, and the 8 A's of dementia refer to a group of symptoms that commonly appear in individuals with dementia. The 8 A's consist of: anosognosia, agnosia, aphasia, apraxia, altered perception, amnesia, apathy and attentional deficits.
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.
Blue is associated with tranquility and creativity. It is a popular color for bedrooms since it causes the body to produce the calming hormone melatonin, resulting in more peaceful sleep --an aid for dementia patients as well as their caregivers.
Eating a balanced diet, exercising the mind and body regularly, having regular contact with others, and not drinking or smoking — these six “healthy lifestyle factors” were associated with better cognitive outcomes in older adults, in a large Chinese study conducted over a decade and published in the BMJ on Wednesday.
One of the habits that can increase your risk of developing dementia by four times is the habit of skipping your breakfast.
The flower is a forget-me-not, a small blue flower that represents remembrance and is long-associated with dementia.
Avoid shiny or reflective flooring, as this may be perceived as being wet, and the person with dementia may struggle to walk over it. The best flooring to choose is matt and in a colour that contrasts with the walls.