Is Dementia And Alzheimer’s The Same Thing

Ten Early Signs Of Alzheimers

What Is Dementia Exactly

Dementia is a syndrome, not a disease. This means that dementia is a set of symptoms that does not necessarily have one precise cause it can have multiple causes or no defined cause.

The symptoms described by dementia are both cognitive and psychological.

According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of dementia can be separated into two categories: cognitive and psychological.

Symptoms And Causes Of Alzheimers Disease

There are several types of dementia including vascular dementia, dementia with lewy bodies, Alzheimers disease, or mixed dementia, which is when a patient is plagued with multiple types of dementia simultaneously. Alzheimers disease happens to be the most common type of dementia, typically affecting adults over the age of 65.

Alzheimers is a degenerative disease thats caused by plaque collecting on the brain and impeding normal brain functions, such as storing new memories, making rational judgments, decision-making skills, and comprehending new information. Other symptoms include memory loss, loss of appetite, impaired speech and bodily movements, disorientation, drastic mood swings, and hostility. Unfortunately, theres no cure for Alzheimers, but there are ways of managing it such as maintaining healthy eating habits, regular exercise, and keeping up with social activities. The only way to know for sure whether a person had Alzheimers is by conducting a brain autopsy after theyve passed away.

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Is Dementia And Alzheimers The Same Thing

What Is Alzheimers Disease? Alzheimers disease is an irreversible brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, Its a chronic, Dementia is not, There are significant differencesDementia and Alzheimers are not the same thing, but they are often grouped together, Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a collection of signs and symptoms characterized by cognitive decline, performance ofEstimated Reading Time: 6 minsWhile similar in some respects, there are some key differences, 2019Alzheimers and dementia care: Tips for daily tasks Mayo Dementia Diagnosis and treatment Mayo ClinicDementia Symptoms and causes Mayo Clinic

See more resultsOver five million people in the United States have Alzheimers disease, Dementia is an overall term used to describe symptoms that impact memory, Dementia is not the same thing as Alzheimers, Alzheimers is only one of many types of dementia each with their own cause.Alzheimers and dementia: Whats the difference?The terms Alzheimers disease and dementia are often used to mean the same thing but heres the real difference between them, Here is a closer look at the two types of diseases and the key differences between them.

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.

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Talking With Your Health Care Provider

Aging is a difficult process for many people, and talking to your health care provider about your concerns can be very beneficial. They can provide you with information and resources to help ease your concerns or improve your quality of life if you have any of these conditions.

There are simple screening tests that health care professionals can perform during routine medical visits, Ory said. Knowing the signs and symptomatology of dementia is important as there are medications that can reduce your symptomatology, and, along with being more active and engaging in other healthy lifestyles, can improve your quality of life.

Although there are no medications or treatment that can cure dementia or Alzheimers, medications and a healthy lifestyle will help you process your condition as well as possible. Ask your physician about safety and limitations. There is nothing shameful about having dementia.

Before people talked about dementia in medical terms, theyd say that the patient was crazy or senile, Ory said. People dont use those terms now because they recognize its a medical condition and not about personality or willpower. Alzheimers and dementia are far too common and are not something we can ignore.

What Are The Types Of Dementia

Dementias are often broken down into two main categories — Alzheimer type or non-Alzheimer type. Dementias of the Alzheimers disease type are defined by the symptoms of memory loss plus impairment in other brain functions, such as language function inability to move the muscles associated with speech or perception, visual or other inabilities to recognize speech or name objects .

Non-Alzheimer dementias include the frontotemporal lobar degenerations, which are further broken down into two main types. One type primarily affects speech. An example is primary progressive aphasia syndromes. The other type is defined by changes in behavior, including lack of feeling, emotion, interest or concern loss of a social filter personality change and loss of executive functions . In both of these frontotemporal lobe dementias, memory loss is relatively mild until later in the course of the disease.

Other non-Alzheimers disease dementias include vascular disorders , dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s dementia, and normal pressure hydrocephalus.

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What Is Alzheimers Exactly

At the risk of being repetitive: Alzheimers is a disease , one that presents with dementia symptoms, and it is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimers is an irreversible, progressive disease, meaning it worsens as time goes on: What starts with misplacing ones keys can become an inability to understand ones context entirely.

Alzheimers disease tends to affect people over the age of 65, though it has been found in younger people, as well. Some analyses project that nearly 14 million Americans could have the disease by the year 2060. The symptoms of Alzheimers disease are dementia symptomsthe cognitive and psychological symptoms listed above.

Whats The Difference Between Dementia And Alzheimers

By Angie Kunnath 6 am on May 17, 2017

Due to their numerous overlapping symptoms, many people tend to mistakenly believe that dementia and Alzheimers are exactly the same thing. In reality, there are a few glaringly noteworthy differences between dementia and Alzheimers that distinctly impact diagnoses, treatments, and medications for patients.

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Are Dementia And Alzheimer’s The Same Thing

Elderly Care in Perth Amboy NJ: Are Dementia and Alzheimers the Same Thing?

One question that often pops up in Alzheimers support groups involves the difference between dementia and Alzheimers. One doctor explained it like this. If you look at the animal kingdom, you have mammals. You have dogs. You have yellow labs, beagles, chihuahuas, and many others. Dogs start with the class and branches from there into more specific categories.

Dementia is a type of disease that affects the brain. Alzheimers is one of those many diseases. Dementia is just a broad term that covers all forms of brain diseases including Alzheimers.

Alzheimers is a form of dementia. Its not the only one, but it is the most common. Thats why you find people using the two terms as though theyre the same thing.

How Many Types of Dementia Are There?

Some forms of dementia are reversible. Dementia linked to Lyme disease is one of them. Most dementia forms are chronic and have no cure. Medications can slow the symptoms, but it cant stop them. The most common chronic forms are Alzheimers, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, frontotemporal, Lewy bodies, mild cognitive impairment, Parkinsons, and vascular.

Its estimated by the World Health Organization that there are 50 million people throughout the world who have one of the forms of dementia. Alzheimers disease is often the disease most closely associated with dementia because it accounts for as many as 7 out of 10 cases of dementia.

How To Understand The Difference And Why It Matters

by Kathleen Fifield, AARP, Updated June 15, 2020

Doctors usually rely on observation and ruling out other factors to diagnose Alzheimer’s.

En español | The terms dementia and Alzheimers have been around for more than a century, which means people have likely been mixing them up for that long, too. But knowing the difference is important. In the simplest terms, one is broader than the other. If the two were nesting dolls, Alzheimers would fit inside dementia, but not the other way around. While Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia , there are several other types. The second most common form, vascular dementia, has a very different cause namely, high blood pressure. Other types of dementia include alcohol-related dementia, Parkinsons dementia and frontotemporal dementia each has different causes as well. In addition, certain medical conditions can cause serious memory problems that resemble dementia.

A correct diagnosis means the right medicines, remedies and support. For example, knowing that you have Alzheimers instead of another type of dementia might lead to a prescription for a cognition-enhancing drug instead of an antidepressant. Finally, you may be eligible to participate in a clinical trial for Alzheimers if youve been specifically diagnosed with the disease.

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Alzheimers And Dementia Treatment Options

Neither Dementia nor Alzheimers has a cure as of today. Medications and cognitive therapy can temporarily improve symptoms of both and can even prolong the inevitable however, these medications do not work on everyone. Cognitive therapy for Dementia patients can additionally help a patient learn to control his angry outbursts caused by frustration at being unable to remember or perform but a cure has not yet been found for either disease.

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What Causes Alzheimers Disease

Alzheimers disease takes place when proteins amass in the brain, interfering with brain cells ability to function normally. Unfortunately, researchers have not yet determined the cause of this protein build up.

That said, Alzheimers disease has been known to run in families. While there is no Alzheimers gene, scientists have identified three genes that are often associated with the disease.

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Alzheimers Vs Dementia Symptoms

Because Alzheimers and other dementias cause cognitive impairment, symptoms for the various types of dementia often overlap.

Generally, Alzheimers and other dementias cause:

• Impaired memory
• A decline in the ability to think and use reason and judgement
• Impaired speaking and communication ability

Alzheimers symptoms typically include:

• Loss of short-term memory

Are Dementia And Alzheimers The Same Thing

You may use the terms Alzheimers and dementia as if they mean the same thing, but theyre really two different terms. Heres the difference.

Dementia is a syndrome linked to problems with remembering, learning new things, focusing and making decisions that affect everyday life. Its an umbrella term that includes thinking problems that interfere with someones normal day-to-day functioning.

Dementia can affect behavior, decision-making, memory, language, visual or spatial perception, and attention, among other areas of daily living. More than one of these areas is usually affected, but one area may be more affected than another.

There are four main types of dementia:

• Alzheimers disease
• Lewy body dementia
• Frontotemporal degeneration

In other words, Alzheimers disease is a form or cause of dementia. Dementia, on the other hand, isnt a specific disease. Dementia is a syndrome. Dementia is also an overall term sometimes referred to as an umbrella term that describes a range of symptoms.

Each form of dementia has different characteristics and causes specific symptoms. Because dementia describes a range of symptoms and many disorders, its possible to have symptoms of more than one disorder at the same time.

Alzheimers disease is one cause of dementia, but its not the only one.

Learn more about Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia in Mayo Clinic on Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias, recently published by Mayo Clinic Press.

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Key Points About Early

• Alzheimer disease commonly affects older people, but early-onset Alzheimer disease can affect people in their 30s or 40s.

• It affects memory, thinking, and behavior.

• Although there is no known cure, early diagnosis and treatment can lead to better quality of life.

• Stay healthy with a good diet and regular exercise.

• Avoid alcohol and other substances that may affect memory, thinking, and behavior.

Dementia Vs Alzheimers: Whats The Difference

Youve likely heard of them before. Their most distinctive feature is a severe and progressive decline in memory, reasoning, and other primary cognitive abilities. Their diagnoses get easily mistaken for one another, and the two terms are often used interchangeably.

Are dementia and Alzheimers the same thing? The short answer is no, they are not. Although tightly intertwined, they are remarkably different.

How so? Well, this may come as a surprise. Alzheimers is a disease. Dementia is not. Technically, dementia is a syndrome or a collection of symptoms associated with a specific disorder. In other words, its not the cause, its the effect. Think of it as the tip of the iceberg, the most apparent signal of some underlying conditions that need addressing. Alzheimers is one of them.

Its probably the most well-known and common one. In fact, according to the Alzheimers Associations latest report, it accounts for about 60-80% of recorded cases. And yet, its only one of the many possible causes. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Huntingtons disease, Parkinsons disease, HIV, traumatic brain injury, vascular cognitive impairment, frontotemporal and Lewy body dementia, along with several others, all can set it off.

That is, not everyone diagnosed with dementia has Alzheimers. The root cause might be something else.

Lets dig a bit deeper.

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Stage : Severe Decline

People in stage six of Alzheimers disease cant live independently. They need professional supervision as they will be unable to bathe themselves or use the restroom. They may be in a state of confusion or fear about their surroundings more often than not, and may not recognize the faces of even close loved ones.

Its no surprise that this is when psychological symptoms are very obvious, as well: sufferers are likely to have substantial personality shifts towards depression, anti-socialness, paranoia, and anxiety.

Stage : Very Severe Decline

This is the terminal stage of Alzheimers disease. At this point, the brain can no longer communicate to the body what to do, and so even very basic motor skills like chewing and swallowing have eroded.

Communication with a person in the seventh stage of Alzheimers disease is essentially impossible, as both language and understanding of environment have been too badly damaged by the disease.

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Tips For Managing Repetitive Behaviour

• Try to be patient and keep your tone level and calm.
• If the person keeps asking about the time or date, consider putting a calendar or clock somewhere they can easily see it.
• Think about what need might be behind the behaviour. For example, if the person keeps asking if theyve been to the supermarket, they may be worried about running out of food.
• If the person keeps looking for a particular item, have an allocated place for it that is easy to see and access.
• Look at what may be triggering the behaviour for example, does this happen the same time of day or around the same people? See our information on identifying triggers.
• The persons life history is helpful to bear in mind. For example, if they used to work in a café, restaurant or pub, they may feel the need to keep wiping down surfaces.
• Distracting the person or engaging them in an activity they enjoy can help to shift their focus onto something else.
• Sometimes the persons repetitive actions seem anxious for example they repetitively zip and unzip their cardigan, twist their fingers or keep taking their glasses off and putting them back on again. If so, there may be products that can help to provide reassurance such as fidget or twiddle muffs or sensory blankets. You can find more ideas in our online shop.
• If the behaviour is not harmful or causing a problem, accept that the person finds it comforting and reassuring and let it be.

Risk Factors And Prevention

Although age is the strongest known risk factor for dementia, it is not an inevitable consequence of biological ageing. Further, dementia does not exclusively affect older people young onset dementia accounts for up to 9% of cases. Studies show that people can reduce their risk of cognitive decline and dementia by being physically active, not smoking, avoiding harmful use of alcohol, controlling their weight, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining healthy blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Additional risk factors include depression, social isolation, low educational attainment, cognitive inactivity and air pollution.

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Causes Of Progressive Dementia

Although researchers don’t completely understand what causes Alzheimer’s, they have found that people who have the disease also have clumps of protein in their brain, called plaques. There is also a protein, called tau, which becomes twisted and unable to function properly. Both the plaques and the damaged tau cause cell death, which results in dementia. Parkinson’s disease causes a different kind of dementia, brought on by having too much dopamine in the brain. Meanwhile, frontotemporal lobe dementia is caused by the degeneration of the brain cells. This can be caused by accumulation of tau, as with Alzheimer’s, or by the accumulation of another protein, called TDP-43.

When dementia is progressive, it usually only begins when the underlying disease has progressed significantly.

Psychological Dementia Symptoms Can Include:

• Depression: taking less pleasure in activities that used to bring joy

• Paranoia: thinking people/events are conspiring against them

• Anxiety: withdrawing from social situations or public out of heightened worry

Dementia symptoms present in a variety of diseases, . Other forms of dementia include Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, and Parkinsons disease and theres also something known as mixed dementia, which is when dementia symptoms are caused by more than one disease.

Worldwide, an estimated 50 million people have dementia, with ten million new cases each year. Though it is most common among the elderly, it is not a normal part of aging, and there are cases of dementia in younger people. Dementia affects women at twice the rate it affects men.

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