Dementia – Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
Dementia is known as the collective symptoms which can be caused by the cell damage in the brain. It is not a disease on its own. The older people are more prone to developing the symptoms, however; it is not directly related to aging.
The main problems which a patient faces in the case of this disease are memory loss, poor communication, and mood and personality changes. The patient may suffer from depression too. Read on to know more about dementia.
Causes of dementia
The primary cause of dementia is the damage to the brain cells. Several triggers are present for dementia such as head injuries, brain tumors, and strokes. Dementia can happen to you even if you are 20 years old and your brain cells start damaging due to some disease. There are more chances that you lose your recent memories.
The types of memory loss which are not related to aging are frequently forgetting things, forgetting the regular jobs, repetition of the sentences while talking, and a disability to keep track of every day works. Dementia is largely differentiable than normal aging because it gets worse with time.
Symptoms of dementia
A patient can experience the symptoms of dementia either gradually over a period of time or at once. Following are some symptoms which prominently relate to dementia.
- Difficulty to perform regular tasks
It is one of the main symptoms of dementia. One can have a problem while doing the regular works like feeding. The patient may forget how to put the food in the mouth and eat. - Recent memory loss
This is one of the primary symptoms of dementia. The recent memory gets hampered by the damage to the brain cells. - Communication problems
Dementia patients often use wrong words in the wrong places in a sentence. They tend to repeat it or use it in the wrong place making no sense. - Absent-mindedness
The people who develop dementia can be largely absent-minded. They can forget their coat or the umbrella when they go out. They even can forget wearing the vital dresses like shirts and pants. - Misplacing things
A patient of dementia can put things in wrong places. They can keep their shoes on the chair and sit on the floor themselves. - Changes in the personality
A dementia patient can experience huge changes in the personality. He/she may become suspicious, irritable, depressed and fearful. - Getting isolated
People affected with dementia lose their will to join social gatherings. They tend to stay back at home mainly. - Severe mood swings
Every patient of dementia can have drastic changes in the mood within a few minutes. They can get angry and sad within a few minutes.
All the above are the common symptoms of dementia. However, they are the triggers of other brain diseases too.
Treatments for dementia
The treatment for dementia is dependent upon the reason for its occurrence. In case the disease has already gone to an advanced stage, the least number of medications is available for that.
The medications which serve the best for the management of Alzheimer’s disease are Donepezil, Rivastigmine, Memantine, and Galantamine. However, it is advisable to take any medicine after consulting the doctor.
Last stage caregiving
In case no medications work anymore on the patient, it is better to deliver the last stage caregiving.
The components of the last stage caregiving are as follows:
- Be a complete supervisor of the patient
- Assist the patient with eating
- Deliver personal care throughout the day
- Sustain the regular work of the patient
- Carry out a healthy diet plan for the patient
- Monitor movements of the bowel of the patient