What is dementia? How is it different to Alzheimer’s? And what are the stages and symptoms of the disease.

DEMENTIA, Alzheimer’s and other terms are frequently used together.

Dementia comes in many shapes and forms, including Alzheimer’s, with the two terms often getting confused.

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What is dementia?

Dementia can be described as a condition that affects the mental capacity of an individual in a way that interferes with daily life.

It is known for its negative effects on memory, reasoning, and thinking.

There are many types of dementia. Each type is associated with a specific type of brain cell damage.

The severity of dementia symptoms will vary depending on the part of the brain that is affected.

There are two major categories of dementia, but there are some conditions that fall within both.

• Cortical causes severe memory loss, similar to that experienced in Alzheimer’s.
• Sub-cortical: This affects thinking speed (as seen in Parkinson’s disease).

Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia are the two most common types of dementia. Both can cause memory problems.

Both are uncommon in younger people below 65 years.

Frontotemporal dementia (most commonly diagnosed in individuals under 65) and dementia with Lewy body are other common forms of dementia. In this case, nerve damage gradually worsens over time and slows down movement.

What is the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s?

Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia.

It accounts for 60 to 80 per cent of dementia cases. Because of this, the names may sometimes be interchangeable.

Alzheimer’s is a degenerative brain disease that is caused by complex brain changes following cell damage.

Brain cells can become damaged when high levels of protein get tangled up. Slowly, brain cells lose communication.

The hippocampus region of brain cells is usually the first to be affected. Because the hippocampus is where learning and memory are central, this causes problems with remembering.

Alzheimer’s leads to dementia symptoms such as problems with short-term memory, difficulty paying bills or remembering appointments.

As the symptoms progress, a person might lose their ability to communicate or write well, remember their family members, and may experience difficulty dressing or dressing themselves. A person with Alzheimer’s can also become easily confused and aggressive and sometimes have outbursts of anger or violent behaviour.

What causes vascular dementia, and what is it?

Vascular dementia, which is caused by a decrease in blood flow and brain damage, is the second most common form of dementia in the UK.

Sometimes, people may have both Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. “mixed dementia”.

When the vascular system in the brain is damaged, so that blood vessels become clogged or leaky, blood can’t reach brain cells and eventually they will die.

The death of brain cells may cause memory, thinking, or reasoning problems. If these cognitive problems are severe enough to affect daily life, it’s called vascular dementia.

Specific symptoms for vascular dementia include stroke-like signs, such as muscle weakness, movement, thinking problems and mood changes such as depression.

Due to the different degrees of damage that is done to the brain, there are many forms of vascular dementia.

These include stroke-related dementia, single and multi-infarct-infarct dementia, and subcortical-vascular dementia.

What are the stages and causes of dementia?

Many dementia cases begin with early warning signs.

This early stage, also known as cognitive impairment, can be easily missed or mistakenly referred to as depression.

These include slight:

• Slowness of thought
• Planning can be difficult
• Trouble with language
• Attention and concentration problems
• Changes in mood or behavior

These symptoms can indicate that some brain damage has already occurred and treatment needs to be started immediately before symptoms get worse and are more difficult to treat.

Although changes can occur in rapid steps with stable periods between, it is difficult to predict when they will occur. Therefore, it is important to act quickly.

Additional symptoms that could be present include confusion and disorientation, memory loss, trouble concentrating and trouble finding the right words. There may also be personality changes such as aggression, difficulty walking, struggling to control your bladder, seeing things that aren’t there, and even difficulty controlling your urination.

These are all signs of early Alzheimer’s, including frequent lost items, forgetting events or conversations, and becoming lost on familiar trips.

How can dementia be treated?

There is no cure for dementia or a way to reverse brain damage.

Treatment may slow down the progression of the condition. The main purpose is to treat the underlying cause, to prevent any further complications, such as strokes.

Lifestyle and medicine changes will be encouraged, including eating well, losing weight if needed, getting fit, and quitting smoking.

Support such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy is also beneficial, but despite treatment dementia can significantly shorten life expectancy.

The average survival time from diagnosis is around four years and most people will die either from complications of dementia, such as pneumonia, or from a subsequent stroke.