What Is Difference Between Senility And Dementia
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- 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
What Medications Are Available To Manage Dementia
Drugs approved for the most common form of dementia, Alzheimers disease, include:
- Cholinesterase inhibitors, including donepezil , rivastigmine and galantamine .
- NMDA receptor antagonist memantine .
- Anti-amyloid antibody aducanumab .
Healthcare providers use these drugs to treat people with some of the other forms of dementia.
Cholinesterase inhibitors and the NMDA receptor antagonist affect different chemical processes in your brain. Both drug classes have been shown to provide some benefit in improving or stabilizing memory function in some people with dementia.
Cholinesterase inhibitors manage the chemicals in your brain that allow messages to be sent between brain cells, which is needed for proper brain function. Memantine works similarly to cholinesterase inhibitors except it works on a different chemical messenger and helps the nerve cells survive longer.
Aducanumab targets amyloid proteins, which build up into the plaques seen in the brains of people with Alzheimers disease.
Although none of these drugs appear to stop the progression of the underlying disease, they may slow it down.
If other medical conditions are causing dementia or co-exist with dementia, healthcare providers prescribe the appropriate drugs used to treat those specific conditions. These other conditions include sleeping problems, depression, hallucinations and agitation.
How Are They Different
When a person is diagnosed with dementia, they are being diagnosed with a set of symptoms. This is similar to someone who has a sore throat. Their throat is sore but it is not known what is causing that particular symptom. It could be allergies, a common cold or strep throat. Similarly, when someone has dementia they are experiencing symptoms without being told what is causing those symptoms.
Another major difference between the two is that Alzheimers is not a reversible disease. It is degenerative and incurable at this time. Some forms of dementia, such as a drug interaction or a vitamin deficiency, are actually reversible or temporary.
Once a cause of dementia is found, appropriate treatment and counseling can begin. Until a proper diagnosis is made, the best approach to any dementia is communication, engagement and loving care.
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What Are The Stages Of Dementia
The stages of dementia vary from person to person and the type of dementia. Keeping the four common types of dementia in mind, these seven stages are the usual progression that is experienced:
- No symptoms yet, but tests might reveal a problem
- Very mild changes in behavior, but independence remains
- Mild decline is noticeable, including changes in thinking, forgetting events, and repeating statements
- Moderate decline, meaning trouble remembering recent events and handling money
- A moderate to severe decline where they forget names, are unsure what time of day it is, and need some assistance with basic daily tasks
- Their decline is severe they are forgetting their spouses name, their personality is changing, and they need help eating and going to the bathroom
- Very severe decline, where they are unable to walk, can no longer speak their thoughts, and spend most time in bed
What Are The Symptoms Of Dementia
Early symptoms of dementia include:
- Forgetting recent events or information.
- Repeating comments or questions over a very short period.
- Misplacing commonly used items or placing them in unusual spots.
- Not knowing the season, year or month.
- Having difficulty coming up with the right words.
- Experiencing a change in mood, behavior or interests.
Signs that dementia is getting worse include:
- Your ability to remember and make decisions further declines.
- Talking and finding the right words becomes more difficult.
- Daily complex tasks, such as brushing your teeth, making a cup of coffee, working a TV remote, cooking and paying bills become more challenging.
- Lessening of rational thinking and behavior and your ability to problem-solve.
- Sleeping pattern changes.
- Increases or worsening of anxiety, frustration, confusion, agitation, suspiciousness, sadness and/or depression.
- Needing more help with activities of daily living, such as grooming, toileting, bathing and eating.
- Experiencing hallucinations .
These symptoms are general symptoms of dementia. Each person diagnosed with dementia has different symptoms, depending on what area of their brain is damaged. Additional symptoms and/or unique symptoms occur with specific types of dementia.
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Treatment And Care Plans For Dementia And Alzheimers
Being able to accurately diagnose Alzheimers from other forms of dementia affects treatment plans, insurance coverage, and even care options. In most cases, dementia is irreversible and incurable. However, there are some medications that can help manage the symptoms of dementia and the drugs to treat dementia depend on the type of dementia. For example, there are drugs to make the symptoms of Parkinsons disease more manageable but there is no way to stop or slow the dementia associated with Parkinsons. Having an accurate diagnosis can help medical professionals create a comprehensive care plan.
Alzheimers is a terminal illness and individuals diagnosed with the disease live an average of 4 to 8 years after diagnosis. In the later stages of the disease, home care or moving to a memory care community may become necessary.
While dementia and Alzheimers are related conditions, they have different aspects that are important to recognize, becoming more apparent as the disease progresses. Contact one of our memory care communities today to learn more about Leisure Cares holistic approach to memory care. Our caregiving experts are ready to come alongside your family and walk this road with you.
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Symptoms Specific To Frontotemporal Dementia
Although Alzheimers disease is still the most common type of dementia in people under 65, a higher percentage of people in this age group may develop frontotemporal dementia than older people. Most cases are diagnosed in people aged 45-65.
Early symptoms of frontotemporal dementia may include:
- personality changes reduced sensitivity to others feelings, making people seem cold and unfeeling
- lack of social awareness making inappropriate jokes or showing a lack of tact, though some people may become very withdrawn and apathetic
- language problems difficulty finding the right words or understanding them
- becoming obsessive such as developing fads for unusual foods, overeating and drinking
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Conditions With Symptoms Similar To Dementia
Remember that many conditions have symptoms similar to dementia, so it is important not to assume that someone has dementia just because some of the above symptoms are present. Strokes, depression, excessive long-term alcohol consumption, infections, hormonal disorders, nutritional deficiencies and brain tumours can all cause dementia-like symptoms. Many of these conditions can be treated.
Causes And Risk Factors
The cause depends on the type, but the exact causes of many forms of dementia are currently unclear.
Dementia is not an inevitable part of aging, but age is one of the main risk factors. In fact, up to 50% of people aged 85 years and older may have a type of dementia.
Also, in the United States, around 11.3% of people aged over 65 years currently have Alzheimers disease, according to the Alzheimers Association. This number rises to 34.6% in those aged 85 years and older. Symptoms tend to worsen with age.
It is possible to develop dementia at a younger age, but the condition is more common among older adults.
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Attention & Executive Functions
The degree to which executive functions are disrupted in most cases of AD remains somewhat equivocal. Some studies suggest that in the typical AD dementia syndrome, executive functions are relatively preserved during the early stages of the disease , whereas others suggest that this domain is impaired to the same extent or more than other cognitive domains . Clearly, as the disease progresses, marked executive dysfunction becomes apparent, with changes in abstract reasoning, concentration, calculations and sustained visual attention being most common. In more severe cases, poor judgment and planning, difficulty completing a task and alterations in personality become especially pronounced.
Typically, comparisons of patients with AD versus VaD on measures of simple attention fail to reveal group differences . However, with increased task complexity, and more demands placed on sustained attention or mental set, vigilance and working memory, patients with VaD demonstrate greater deficits than AD patients . Most studies of letter fluency show no difference or a slight superiority by patients with AD versus VaD .
How Common Is Dementia
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 5 million U.S. adults age 65 or older have Alzheimers and related dementia. By 2060, the CDC projects that about 14 million people will have dementia, which is about 3.3% of the population.
Alzheimers disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the fifth leading cause of death in Americans age 65 and older.
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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.
Alzheimer’s Disease And Other Dementias
Senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type is often associated with sleep impairment, and several kinds of disturbances have been described, such as reduction of sleep efficiency and of the total length of sleep. There is also a relationship between the severity of the sleep disturbance and the severity of the dementia. Patients with AD have an increased number and duration of awakenings, an increased percentage of stage 1 sleep, reduced slow-wave sleep, and reduced REM sleep .
As a consequence of the continuing sleep disorganization in parallel with progression of the AD, night-wandering and disturbing behavior are common problems both for the patient and for his or her spouse and caregivers. This problem may be alleviated at least to some extent, by attempting to give the patient daytime activity, avoidance of daytime sleeping, and use of hypnotics during periods of pronounced disturbances of the sleep/wake rhythm.
Depressive symptoms are common in patients with AD, and in elderly persons with depression it is often difficult to distinguish this from AD. The sleep pattern in AD differs from that of depression in showing a greater reduction of REM sleep and a lower REM density. The intellectual ability and the daytime performance may also be impaired by central sleep apnea, which is present in 33 to 53% of patients with AD .
Marie E. Cowart, in, 2004
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What Is The Difference Between Dementia And Alzheimers Diseaseblog
Dementia is caused by different diseases that affect the brain. Alzheimers disease is the most common of these diseases. Some other common types of dementia include vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.
This means that dementia is not a disease in its own right. Dementia is the name for a group of symptoms that commonly include problems with memory, thinking, problem solving, language and perception.
While there is a relationship between dementia and Alzheimers disease, there are key differences between the two.
How Dementia Is Different From Senility
Dementia includes a broad range of brain conditions that cause a progressive decline in a person’s ability to think and remember. Moreover, the loss of these abilities makes it increasingly difficult for people to function or care for themselves.
The most common causes of dementia include Alzheimer’s disease, followed by vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Other less common causes include Parkinson’s associated dementia, Huntington’s disease, tertiary syphilis, HIV-associated dementia, and CreutzfeldtJakob disease.
There is no cure for dementia, and the progression of the condition is typically slow. Medical professionals usually classify dementia by stage based on symptoms.
Stages may be classified as follows:
- Early-stage dementia is diagnosed when daily life is starting to become impacted. It is usually characterized by forgetfulness, inability to find words, repeating things, and difficulty in managing routine tasks like finances or shopping.
- Middle-stage dementia will affect a person’s ability to function both inside and outside of the home. A person will typically lose almost all new information within moments of receiving it and exhibit impairment of social judgment and general problem-solving, and will often get lost. Challenging behaviors often develop in mid-stage dementia.
- Late-stage dementia is the stage where a person requires assistance with all activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing, and dressing.
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Can Dementia Be Prevented
Although dementia cant be prevented, living a health-focused life might reduce risk factors for certain types of dementia.
Keeping blood vessels clear of cholesterol buildup, maintaining normal blood pressure, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, staying at a healthy weight basically, staying as healthy as you can can keep your brain fueled with the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function at its highest possible level. Specific healthful steps you can take include:
- Follow a Mediterranean diet, which is one filled with whole grains, vegetables, fruits, fish and shellfish, nuts, beans, olive oil and only limited amounts of red meats.
- Exercise. Get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week.
- Keep your brain engaged. Solve puzzles, play word games and try other mentally stimulating activities. These activities may delay the start of dementia.
- Stay socially active. Interact with people, discuss current events, and keep your mind, heart and soul engaged.
Can You Have Alzheimer’s And Other Types Of Dementia At The Same Time
Yes, it is possible to have Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia at the same time. This is known as ‘mixed dementia’. Read more about mixed dementia in our guide to types of dementia.
Live-in care provides round-the-clock support for people who need help to live independently. There is specialist live-in care available for people with dementia. Read our guide to 10 of the best live-in care providers to find out more.
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What Is Known About Alzheimers Disease
Scientists do not yet fully understand what causes Alzheimers disease. There likely is not a single cause but rather several factors that can affect each person differently.
- Age is the best known risk factor for Alzheimers disease.
- Family historyresearchers believe that genetics may play a role in developing Alzheimers disease. However, genes do not equal destiny. A healthy lifestyle may help reduce your risk of developing Alzheimers disease. Two large, long term studies indicate that adequate physical activity, a nutritious diet, limited alcohol consumption, and not smoking may help people. To learn more about the study, you can listen to a short podcast.
- Changes in the brain can begin years before the first symptoms appear.
- Researchers are studying whether education, diet, and environment play a role in developing Alzheimers disease.
- There is growing scientific evidence that healthy behaviors, which have been shown to prevent cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, may also reduce risk for subjective cognitive decline. Heres 8 ways.
What’s The Life Expectancy Of A Person With Dementia
Theres no easy way to answer this question. Dementia is an umbrella term that covers the many different types of underlying neurodegenerative diseases.
Each type of neurodegenerative disease has its own unique pattern and development in each person. Also, each person has a unique health profile. Some people may be relatively healthy and others may have several co-existing health issues. All of these factors play a role in the pace of decline in a person with dementia.
To answer more broadly, Alzheimers is the most common type of dementia. The average lifespan after the earliest symptoms is eight years. However, some people have lived as long as 20 years after an Alzheimers disease diagnosis.
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Difference Between Alzheimers And Senile Dementia
Categorized under Health | Difference Between Alzheimers and Senile Dementia
ALZHEIMERS VS. SENILE DEMENTIA
Old age and the loss of mental faculties are an unfortunate but harsh reality. Alzheimers disease is, perhaps, the most common and debilitating of this type of affliction. However, most people are unaware that Alzheimers disease is only one disease under the larger umbrella that is Senile Dementia. Alzheimers maybe the most infamous, but there are many other forms of this condition.
Senile Dementia can be considered as an all-encompassing term utilized to indicate the deterioration and eventual loss of intellectual acuity related to advanced aging, and is caused by degeneration of ones brain cells. Alzheimers disease is often confused as either the same or alternatively it is often considered to be something entirely different from it. Yes and no yes, Alzheimers disease is a condition that qualifies as Senile Dementia, but Alzheimers is actually one of the forms of it. Other forms of Senile Dementia include Fronto-temporal Dementia, Lewy Body disease, Parkinsons disease, and Vascular Dementia. Alzheimers, meanwhile, is the most common of these. It should also not be confused with normal senility.
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