How Does Dementia Affect The Muscular System

What Are The Symptoms Of Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia affects everyone differently. Its symptoms vary a lot and depend on which areas of the frontal and temporal lobes are damaged and so the type of FTD the person has.

As with most forms of dementia, FTD is progressive. This means its symptoms may be mild at first, but they will get worse over time.

Find out more about FTD symptoms below.

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Living With Frontotemporal Dementia

Coping with FTD can be frightening, frustrating, and embarrassing for the patient and family members. Since some symptoms cant be controlled, family members shouldn’t take their loved ones behaviors personally. Families need to maintain their own well-being, while ensuring that their loved one is treated with dignity and respect.

Caregivers should learn all they can about FTD and gather a team of experts to help the family meet the medical, financial, and emotional challenges they are facing.

Its important to find a healthcare provider knowledgeable about FTD. Other healthcare specialists who may play a role on the team are home care nurses, neuropsychologists, genetic counselors, speech and language therapists, as well as physical and occupational therapists. Social workers can help the patient and caregivers find community resources, such as medical supplies and equipment, nursing care, support groups, respite care, and financial assistance.

Attorneys and financial advisors can help families prepare for the later stages of the disease.

Advanced planning will help smooth future transitions for the patient and family members, and may allow all to participate in the decision-making process.

Causes Of Vascular Dementia

Vascular dementia is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain, which damages and eventually kills brain cells.

This can happen as a result of:

• narrowing and blockage of the small blood vessels inside the brain
• a single stroke, where the blood supply to part of the brain is suddenly cut off
• lots of “mini strokes” that cause tiny but widespread damage to the brain

In many cases, these problems are linked to underlying conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and lifestyle factors, such as smoking and being overweight.

Tackling these might reduce your risk of vascular dementia in later life, although it’s not yet clear exactly how much your risk of dementia can be reduced.

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Isnt Dementia Part Of Normal Aging

No, many older adults live their entire lives without developing dementia. Normal aging may include weakening muscles and bones, stiffening of arteries and vessels, and some age-related memory changes that may show as:

• Occasionally misplacing car keys
• Struggling to find a word but remembering it later
• Forgetting the name of an acquaintance
• Forgetting the most recent events

Normally, knowledge and experiences built over years, old memories, and language would stay intact.

Nutritional Screening And Assessment

People living with dementia are more vulnerable to developing malnutrition which can be preventable with early detection and intervention. Therefore, nutritional screening and assessment should be integral for all people with dementia in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.17 The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool 18 or Mini Nutritional Assessment19 are common screening tools suitable for detecting malnutrition risk. The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition criteria is for diagnosis of malnutrition and it recommends BMI 22kg/m2 as the lower BMI cut-off for adults over 70 years.20

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Creating A Beneficial Environment For People With Dementia

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More Information About Dementia

The following are some English-language resources that may be useful. Please note that THE MANUAL is not responsible for the content of these resources.

• Alzheimer’s Association: This web site provides information about Alzheimer disease, including statistics, causes, risk factors, and symptoms. It also provides resources for support, including information about daily care of people with Alzheimer disease, care for the caregiver, and support groups.

• The Alzheimer’s Society: This web site provides a guide to dementia , a guide for caregivers, and information about the types of dementia, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, risk factors, and prevention.

• Dementia.org: This web site provides information about the causes, symptoms, treatments, and stages of dementia.

• Health Direct: Dementia Video Series: These videos provide general information about dementia, recommendations about the warning signs of dementia, treatment and research, and caring for a person with dementia. The web site also provides links to articles on similar topics.

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Medications To Help Cognitive Problems In Dementia

Medications are available in Australia to help with the cognitive problems of dementia for people with Alzheimers disease. These medications might also be useful for people with vascular dementia or Lewy body disease.The two types of medications for cognitive dementia symptoms include:

• Cholinesterase inhibitors increase the levels of a chemical in the brain that is important for memory , which can help some people.
• Memantine blocks the action of another chemical in the brain , which can improve thinking problems in some people.

Statistical Power And Analysis

Sample size estimates were calculated a priori to determine statistical power. Based on a normal range of performance on each of the strength and function measurements to be employed in the study for somewhat disabled noninstitutionalized elderly people, we computed a range of possible estimates of power and found that we would have approximately a 0.97 chance of detecting change in a mean score of 0.50 standard deviations when the sample size is 25 and the correlation between the pre- and postintervention measurements is 0.75. The correlations between pre- and posttest measurements in our study, in fact, ranged from 0.49 to 0.91, with the correlations among measures of function at the higher end of this range .

An average estimate of the trials for each measure was computed for the pre- and postintervention assessments. Pre- and posttraining estimates of strength and function were compared using a paired sample t test, and effect sizes were calculated from the mean of postintervention minus preintervention estimates. These results are shown in and . All estimates were derived using STATA software .

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How Does Alzheimers Affect The Respiratory System

Breathing problems arent normal, but they are quite common in older people, especially those with Alzheimers disease. It can be caused by a number of conditions, including:

• Asthma
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Heart failure

Breathing issues can be prevented by avoiding sudden temperature changes, air pollution, pollen, dust, cigarette smoke and chemical fragrances.

Doing breathing exercises can help get as much air in the lungs as possible. One way to do this is to sit up straight. Then breathe in through the nose, purse lips and then breathe out slowly. Try to breathe out twice as long as you breathed in.

Study Shows Link Between Alzheimers And Heart Disease

Recently, researchers discovered that Alzheimers is caused by amyloid beta proteins building up in the spaces between brain cells. While this causes noticeable symptoms in the brain first, this same protein plaque can build up around the heart.

This was discovered in a study that examined 22 patients with Alzheimers and 35 patients without, all of whom were 78 or 79 years old. The goal was to analyze the stiffness present in the hearts left ventricle the thickest chamber of the heart responsible for transporting blood throughout the body.

During the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers discovered that those with Alzheimers had a thicker left ventricle than those without Alzheimers. This thickness was caused by the same plaque protein buildup that was building in the Alzheimers patients brains. The thickness can lead to various cardiovascular issues if and when the left ventricle becomes too thick to successfully pump blood through the body. As a result, this puts Alzheimers patients at a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

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What To Do If A Loved One Is Suspicious Of Having Dementia

• Discuss with loved one. Talk about seeing a medical provider about the observed changes soon. Talk about the issue of driving and always carrying an ID.
• Medical assessment. Be with a provider that you are comfortable with. Ask about the Medicare Annual Wellness exam.
• Family Meeting. Start planning, and gather documents like the Health Care Directive, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, Estate Plan.

Study: Osteoporosis Associated With An Increased Risk Of Dementia

In Germany, the prevalence of osteoporosis among people over 50 years of age is approximately 15%. Researchers in Frankfurt have been studying its impact on cognitive decline and dementia in recent decades and the current study, published in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease, evaluated 60,000 patients who were diagnosed with osteoporosis for up to 20 years.

Lead study investigator, Professor Karel Kostev, from the Epidemiology Team of IQVIA, Frankfurt, Germany says, There is a big interest in the relationship between osteoporosis and dementia. This study is the first to address this question in a very large database, enabling the case-control-comparison between patients with and without the condition.

After 20 years, the data indicated that 20.5% of women with osteoporosis and 16.4% of the control group were diagnosed with dementia. In the group of men, 22% were diagnosed with dementia and only 14.9% of the control group had dementia.

Overall, osteoporosis was associated with a 1.2-fold increase in the risk of dementia diagnosis in women and a 1.3-fold increase in men.

The co-author of the study, Louis Jacob, MD, from the University Clinic of Paris, states, The major hypothesis to explain the association between osteoporosis and dementia is that these two conditions have similar risk factors. These factors include APOE4 allele of the apolipoprotein E, a major cholesterol carrier, lower vitamin K levels, vitamin D deficiency, but also androgens and estrogens .

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Irritability And Mood Swings

In the mid and especially late stages, a person who has dementia may begin to lose control of his impulses.

This is the most alarming effect of dementia, which may lead to hurting another person emotionally.

A person who has dementia may even say tactless things, like Gosh, you look old!, which they would never say before.

In the later stage, more aggressive acts often seem to come out of nowhere, including cursing, arguing, shouting, and even threatening.

As dementia gets worse, the person loses tolerance for a lot of things and situations which makes his or her mood change constantly.

How Does Alzheimers Affect You Physically

Alzheimers doesnt just affect a person mentally, it can also affect a person physically too. Some people may end up with physical problems before experiencing serious memory loss. It can affect the way a person walks and talks as well as the issues listed below :

• Loss of balance
• Shuffling or dragging feet when walking
• Trouble standing
• Trouble sitting in a chair
• Weak muscles

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Lubrication Model Of The Poroelastic Bm

The aim of this model is to quantify the amount of fluid eliminated from the brain tissue along the intramural vascular BM as a consequence of muscular contractions of cerebral arteries. The intramural vascular BM is modeled as a slowly varying sheet of width 2h, running through the wall of a cylindrical vessel which is itself centered along the z-axis, undergoing axisymmetric deformation , as illustrated in Figure 2. On its top and bottom boundaries , the BM is exposed to compressive stresses dependent on the contractile activity of the VSMCs. Given its anatomical properties , the BM is treated as deformable spongy material filled with interstitial fluid. More specifically, the BM is modeled as a fluid-filled poroelastic medium comprised of a porous solid phase denoted by the superscript s and a fluid phase denoted by the superscript f. The pores in the solid matrix provide a path for the movement of fluid. Since the BM thickness is significantly smaller than the arterial radius , we assume that its upper half behaves identically to its lower half. For visual purposes, the following notation is adopted: 2H is the undeformed thickness of the BM and 2h is the deformed thickness of the BM.

2.1.1. Governing Equations

H ) relates the stress in the BM to its deformation and is derived from a given strain energy function. The reader is referred forward to Equations for the particular forms of the stress-strain relationship and the strain energy function used in this work.

Treatments For Vascular Dementia

There’s currently no cure for vascular dementia and there’s no way to reverse any loss of brain cells that happened before the condition was diagnosed.

But treatment can sometimes help slow down vascular dementia.

Treatment aims to tackle the underlying cause, which may reduce the speed at which brain cells are lost.

This will often involve:

• taking medicines, such as those used to treat high blood pressure, lower cholesterol or prevent blood clots

Other treatments, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dementia activities and psychological therapies, can help reduce the impact of any existing problems.

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What Does This Project Involve

The researchers on this project are hoping to understand more about the role of the immune system in Alzheimer’s disease to find out if there is a way to target the microglia more effectively with treatments. The team have previously used cutting-edge imaging techniques in fruit flies that have shown that immune cells will travel to areas of the brain where the amyloid protein is present. It is thought that the microglia travel to the amyloid in order to remove it from the brain, but if they become overactive they may end up damaging the brain cell in the process. The researchers will therefore use this imaging technique to understand how the cells travel during the disease process and what the relationship is between the microglia and the amyloid protein. They will then unpick the genetic and molecular aspects that control this behaviour.

What Do We Already Know

There is an increasing amount of evidence that the underlying mechanisms behind Alzheimer’s disease may begin years or even decades before symptoms start to show. Many researchers believe that treating those affected at the earliest stage possible will be the most effective way of slowing down the disease or stopping its progression.

The brain’s immune system has long been implicated as a key factor in the development of Alzheimers disease, particularly a specialised type of immune cell called microglia. The microglia help to clear debris and toxic materials from the brain. However, it appears that in Alzheimer’s they do not perform this function correctly or may even contribute directly to the disease process. One theory is that the Alzheimers hallmark amyloid protein activates the microglia, which perform their function properly at first but as more amyloid is produced the system becomes overwhelmed and unregulated. This leads to damage to brain cells.

Some trials for potential Alzheimer’s disease treatments have attempted to prevent the damaging immune response but so far results have been disappointing. This could be because the drugs are broadly targeting the whole immune system rather than just the faulty microglia.

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How Does A Stroke Affect The Muscular System

The brain controls both involuntary and voluntary muscular activity by sending neural messages to the muscles. These messages primarily originate in the motor cortex, which is found in the frontal lobe of the brain.

The motor cortex transmits these signals to the spinal cord, where they can reach the motor neurons. When these neurons fire, the impulse travels to the specific muscle, telling the muscle to contract or relax.

When a stroke occurs, this complex process can be disrupted, which can result in changes in muscle function. Depending on the severity and location of the stroke, this can often lead to changes in muscle tone and function.

In the following sections, we will discuss the most common ways that a stroke can affect the muscular system.

How Does Alzheimers Affect The Brain

A healthy brain contains billions of neurons, which are specialized cells that process and transmit information between different parts of the brain to the muscles and organs of the body via electrical and chemical signals . Alzheimers disease disrupts this communication. This ultimately results in loss of function and cell death.

The brain typically shrinks to some degree as a person ages, but it doesnt actually lose neurons in large numbers. In Alzheimers disease the damage is larger. Neurons stop functioning and lose connection with other neurons affecting communication.

It first starts with destroying neurons that are involved in memory and eventually affects areas in the brain responsible for language, reasoning and social behavior. Overtime, a person may lose his or her ability to live and function independently.

People with Alzheimers may also experience vascular problems that may lead to reduced blood flow and oxygen to the brain. This results in inflammation which adds further vascular problems.

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