Why It’s Important To Get A Diagnosis
Although there is no cure for dementia at the moment, an early diagnosis means its progress can be slowed down in some cases, so the person may be able to maintain their mental function for longer.
A diagnosis helps people with dementia get the right treatment and support. It can also help them, and the people close to them, to prepare for the future.
Read more about how dementia is diagnosed.
Language And Motor Function
Another difference between these two diseases is language. Alzheimers patients suffer from anomia, circumlocution, and aphasias. Frontotemporal dementia patients, on the other hand, experience stereotypical language, echolalias, and mutism. As you can see, these two diseases vary markedly in this area.
Both diseases affect motor function. Alzheimers patients suffer from apraxias , while patients with frontotemporal dementia retain this function.
Symptoms Of Alzheimer’s Disease
In the early stages the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease can be very subtle. However, it often begins with lapses in memory and difficulty in finding the right words for everyday objects.
Other symptoms may include:
- Persistent and frequent memory difficulties, especially of recent events
- Vagueness in everyday conversation
- Apparent loss of enthusiasm for previously enjoyed activities
- Taking longer to do routine tasks
- Forgetting well-known people or places
- Inability to process questions and instructions
- Deterioration of social skills
- Emotional unpredictability
Symptoms vary and the disease progresses at a different pace according to the individual and the areas of the brain affected. A person’s abilities may fluctuate from day to day, or even within the one day, becoming worse in times of stress, fatigue or ill-health.
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This Is What An Alzheimer’s Patient Needs From His Family
2022-01-22T00:43:36.360Z
If someone in your family has Alzheimer’s, the whole family should know some basic information about the disease and its development and how to care for the patient.
Caring for an elderly person with Alzheimer’s disease at home is a humanitarian task that is not an easy task, and perhaps only those who have experienced it will appreciate its weight.
The Alzheimer’s patient, if he is a member of your family, does not constitute a burden as much as he turns into an angry and lost child at other times, and between them there are many troubles, pains and arduous tasks that require constant care and supervision.
Therefore, if one of your family members has Alzheimer’s disease, the whole family should know some basic information about the disease and its development and how to care for the patient at home to preserve his life from exposure to any harm and to avoid the deterioration of his health.
Faqs About Dementia And Alzheimers Disease
- Are dementia and Alzheimer’s disease the same?
As outlined throughout this post, dementia and Alzheimers disease are two different things. Dementia is a group of symptoms that affect the mental abilities of an individual. Its a general term used to describe the decline in ones mental ability to a point that it interferes in their daily life. Alzheimers disease, on the other hand, is a progressive disease. Its a type of dementia that causes impairment in memory, language, and thoughts.
- Are dementia and Alzheimer’s disease hereditary?
People who have Alzheimers disease running in their family are more likely to have it they are at a higher risk. The same goes for dementia. However, only in rare cases, theres a strong link between dementia and genes. There are many other factors that determine whether a person can have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
- Is dementia and Alzheimer’s disease a mental illness?
Dementia and Alzheimers disease do affect mental health. However, they arent particularly a mental illness but rather a brain disorder or a progressive neurodegenerative condition.
- How is dementia and Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed?
There are no definite tests to diagnose dementia and Alzheimers disease. Doctors consider various factors, including medical history, laboratory tests, change in behaviour, and more to determine if someone has dementia or Alzheimers disease.
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How Do The Symptoms Of Dementia And Alzheimers Compare
There are a really wide range of possible dementia symptoms, but Alzheimers symptoms are a little more specific. Dementia symptoms vary depending on what is causing the dementia, and also vary from one person to the next. The main dementia symptoms fall into three different groups:
- Difficulties with remembering, thinking and language. The person might be forgetful, repeat questions, struggle to remember words and have conversations, or be disoriented.
- Difficulties with daily activities. They might struggle with their routine maybe becoming unhygienic or neglecting their home. They might also get lost in familiar places.
- Emotional and behavioural difficulties. There are a whole range of these, including being withdrawn or apathetic, low or anxious, suspicious of others, or even aggressive. The person could also be restless and have trouble sleeping.
The different causes of dementia may have different symptoms in the early stages. But as the conditions progress, someone is more likely to have the full range of dementia symptoms.
In Alzheimers specifically, the first thing that tends to appear is memory problems. The person might also lose interest in their favourite activities or hobbies. As time goes on, these problems will get worse. The person may get more confused, and struggle to plan and follow instructions. In the later stages of Alzheimers, more serious symptoms like hallucinations, aggression, depression and incontinence can appear.
The Difference Between Dementia And Alzheimers
Its common knowledge that our brains change as we age. Older adults lose memory and cognitive functions, some more than others.
Dementia is clinical symptom that describes the decline in a persons mental ability to the point where activities of daily life are affected. This includes preparing meals, driving, paying bills, arranging and remembering appointments.
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Where Mild Cognitive Impairment Fits In
Diagnosing and determining the type of dementia a person has can also get tricky because some people dont have full-blown dementiathey have what doctors refer to as mild cognitive impairment or MCI. With dementia, Dr. Scharre says, you often need other people to do activities for you that you used to be able to manage on your own , but with MCI, you can still do those things even if you need a bit of prompting. So youre forgetful, youre less efficient, and maybe you need verbal clues, but you can still do the function yourselfthats MCI, says Dr. Scharre.
What Is Difference Between Senility And Dementia
senilitydementiaDementiain a
- Your local community health centre
- National Dementia Helpline Dementia Australia Tel. 1800 100 500
- Aged Care Assessment Services Tel. 1300 135 090
- My Aged Care 1800 200 422
- Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service clinics Tel. 1300 135 090
- Carers Victoria Tel. 1800 242 636
- Commonwealth Carelink and Respite Centres Australian Government Tel. 1800 052 222
- Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Service Tel. 1800 699 799 for 24-hour telephone advice for carers and care workers
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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.
Dementia Care And Alzheimers Care In Little Rock
Here at CareLink, we provide resources for Alzheimers and other forms of Dementia care in Little Rock and the surrounding areas to help older people and their caregivers overcome the challenges accompanying these conditions. We offer HomeCare services, family caregiver support, and in-home respite care.
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Outlook For People With Dementia
The outlook for patients suffering from dementia depends completely on the direct cause of dementia. The available treatments are used to make the symptoms of dementia manageable, but there is no sure-fire way of stopping the deterioration of the mind due to this disease.
Although vascular dementia can be slowed down in some cases, it can still shorten a patients lifespan. Some dementia variants are reversible, but most of them are irreversible and can cause physical and mental impairments, over time.
Early Stages Of Dementia
This may appear as simple forgetfulnessmisplacing the checkbook, forgetting someones name, or going into the kitchen to get something and not remembering what that was. Is the problem dementia, or just being overtired or distracted? Arent most folks over 65 a little more forgetful?
In this early stage, patients are still able to live and function independently, although increased contact with family and friends, and some assistance, like weekly housecleaning services, can help. In this way, a trusted caregiver can monitor the patients ability to cope with mild dementia.
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What Is Dementia And What About Alzheimers
Before going deep into the differentiation of concepts and seeing these differences in the form of key points, it is interesting that we put ourselves in context and understand, individually, the clinical bases of both concepts. Therefore, below, we are going to define as concisely as possible what is dementia and what is Alzheimers.
Types And Locations Of Lesions
With Alzheimers disease, brain lesions appear on the inner face of the temporal lobe, especially in the hippocampus. From there, they spread to the rest of the temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes. As the name suggests, in the case of frontotemporal dementia, lesions appear on the temporal and frontal lobes.
Alzheimers involves a loss of neurons and synapses. In the brains of patients with Alzheimers, scientists have also identified the presence of tau proteins and amyloid proteins .
Frontotemporal dementia patients also experience a loss of neurons and synapses and an increase in the tau protein. However, some elements that arent part of Alzheimers disease, which are Pick cells and occasionally Pick bodies. Lastly, the amyloid proteins and neuritic plaque typical of Alzheimers disease are absent in frontotemporal dementia.
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Treatment Alternatives For Frontal Lobe Dementia
Frontal lobe dementia is treated for the symptoms, just like Alzheimers disease. Antidepressant drugs as well as antipsychotic drugs can be taken to deal with the symptoms of hallucinations.Medical researchers are always at work to search for a possible cure. However, there is no cure for frontal lobe dementia. However, the average sufferer can live with the illness for up to 20 years or more with proper diagnosis and treatments.
But First What Is Dementia
Dementia is the diagnosis of a constellation of symptoms, formerly known as senility or senile dementia. Dementia is a progressive, degenerative condition that for the most part has no cure, although treatments can assuage some of its symptoms and delay its progression.
Influenced by a variety of factors, including genes and overall physical health, the speed with which dementia progresses differs from person to person. Dementia is also referred to as early onset when individuals develop symptoms before age 65.
People with dementia exhibit cognitive physical and behavioral changes that affect their ability to go about their activities of daily living without assistance. Important among those changes is the fact that their ability to create and store new memories or to retrieve old memories becomes more impaired as dementia progresses.
Dementia has varying symptoms, depending on which type of dementia a person has. Some symptoms are common to multiple forms of dementia, while others are quite specific. Over all, dementia patients often have difficulties with many of the following symptoms:
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Are There Treatments For Alzheimers And Dementia
There are some non-medical treatment options, which can help you live well with dementia. These include emotional support and activities to support your physical and mental health.
There are also medical treatments available for some causes of dementia, and Alzheimers disease. The aim of treatment is to help your brain function. They can help you live independently and manage your symptoms.
Current treatments can slow the progress of Alzheimers disease. But they wont stop it completely or reverse its effects. Its also important to know that treatment doesnt work for everyone.
Dementia Vs Alzheimers Disease
Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of diseases that are characterized by cognitive declineand then Alzheimers disease is the most common type of dementia under that umbrella, says Zaldy S. Tan, M.D., M.P.H., director of theCedars-Sinai Health System Memory and Aging Program. So while theyre related, theyre not interchangeable terms. Dementia as a whole is tricky because theres no questionnaire that you can fill out and say, Oh, I have this type of dementia, says Dr. Tan. Its very complex and the presentations vary from person to person so if you have two people and they both have Alzheimers disease, their presentation may be quite different.
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/6difference Between Dementia And Alzheimer’s
Dementia and Alzheimer’s are two terms often used interchangeably for mental health conditions linked with memory loss and lack of concentration. In reality, the two have contrasting meanings.
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe myriad symptoms that can impact a person’s ability to perform everyday activities independently. Several mental conditions are categorised as dementia, and Alzheimers is one of them.
The Difference Between Dementia And Alzheimers Disease According To Experts
In everyday conversations, its common practice to use the terms Alzheimers and dementia as if they mean the same thing. Many people do think that theyre interchangeable, but there are differences,Claire Sexton, D.Phil., director of scientific programs and outreach for theAlzheimers Association, points out. Knowing the difference can help you navigate the world of brain health a little more easily and get the right diagnosis.
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The Three Stages Of Dementia
Neither family members nor the patient themselves may notice the first symptoms of dementia, until it becomes an inevitable reality.
After a diagnosis of dementia, it usually follows a
3-stage
regression pathway .
In mild dementia
, people may have difficulty remembering words and names, learning and remembering new information, and planning and managing complex activities such as driving.
They may also experience sadness, anxiety, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, and other symptoms such as major depression.
In mild dementia
, physical and sensory functions are usually affected, and this may be evident in personal hygiene, inappropriate language, severe behavior with those around, and constant wandering.
At this stage, the patient needs to contain and accept behaviors calmly and compassionately, without blaming, criticizing, or reminding that the patient has forgotten to do something that is self-evident such as taking care of daily personal hygiene.
When your loved one is injured, be careful not to pass judgment on him, remember that you are caring for the elderly with the behavior of a child.
It is definitely a huge emotional and physical challenge.
âWhen a patient goes from mild to moderate dementia, some home modifications are often required that may include removing carpets, installing safety locks and adding bed barriers in the Sleep to protect the patient from falling during sleep, and secure windows and balconies.
Severe dementia
Differences Between Alzheimers And Frontotemporal Dementia
The term dementia can be vague and confusing. This is because there are different types of dementia, each with its own unique characteristics. Today, well be comparing and contrasting Alzheimers disease and frontotemporal dementia.
Well share nine specific differences in terms of the patients age at onset, affected cognitive functions, personality changes, location of brain lesions, etc. In other words, well focus on patient symptoms and also touch on a few other factors.
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Is Alzheimers Disease A Natural Part Of Ageing
A common misconception about dementia is that it is a natural part of ageing. This is not the case. Alzheimers disease is the most common type of dementia, making up about 60 80% of people diagnosed. Although it is most common in older people, a small number of people under 65 will develop symptoms at an early age. People living with Alzheimers often have trouble with their memory, as well as completing common daily activities.
Reduced cognitive ability as we age is natural. However, people living with Alzheimers disease often experience memory loss at much greater levels than their peers. As with other types of dementia, a definite diagnosis of Alzheimers disease can only be obtained post-mortem. However, based upon clinical observations and testing of cognitive processes such as memory, a diagnosis can usually be made.
If youve recently been diagnosed with Alzheimers disease you may be experiencing feelings of hopelessness and depression. Its important to remember a diagnosis of Alzheimers disease doesnt spell the end of your life. Many people diagnosed with Alzheimers disease continue to live long, happy lives surrounded by their loved ones. Its also important to note the quality of life for people living with dementia has improved drastically in the last century.
% Of Dementia Patients Alzheimers Is Diagnosed
If Alzheimers is dementia is the most common form, dementia patients to 70% Alzheimers diagnosis is put.
However, although the definitive diagnosis is made at autopsy after the patient dies, doctors can diagnose the disease while the patient is alive with acceptable accuracy.
in Alzheimers Plates and knots are formed in the brain due to protein accumulations. This disrupts intercellular communication. As brain cells die, brain functions are lost and the brain shrinks significantly over time.
These damages began to occur before the first symptoms were even present. Once symptoms occur, treatment becomes impossible, although some symptoms can be alleviated for a short time.
Alzheimers and dementia Although some of the symptoms overlap, there are differences.
Common symptoms in both these cases are:
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