Dementia

About Dementia

Definition

Dementia is a loss in mental skills, such as the ability to think, reason, learn, and understand. It causes problems with day to day tasks and self-care.

Some Areas of the Brain Affected by Dementia

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Causes

Many health problems can be a cause. Some common ones are:

• Alzheimer dementia
• Brain damage after many small strokes
• Lewy body disease
• Front-temporal dementia, such as Pick disease
• Huntington disease
• Brain injury
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other prion disorders
• Parkinson disease

Risk Factors

It is more common in older adults. Other things that may raise the risk are:

• Having other people in your family who have it
• Down syndrome
• Having head trauma
• Having health problems that damage the heart and blood vessels, such as:
  • High cholesterol
  • High blood pressure
  • Diabetes
  • Multiple strokes

Symptoms

Symptoms start slowly and get worse with time. A person may have:

• Memory loss
• Lack of focus
• Problems making choices or plans
• Problems naming things
• Problems with getting lost in familiar places
• Mood swings
• Slowness when moving
• Pulled away from other people

Diagnosis

The doctor will ask about symptoms and health history. A physical exam will be done. Tests on memory, thought processes, and the nervous system will also be done. Images of the brain may be taken with:

• MRI scan
• CT scan
• PET/CT scan

Treatment

The goal of treatment is to manage the symptoms. There is no cure for dementia. Some symptoms can be managed with medicines such as:

• Cholinesterase inhibitors to treat changes in thinking
• Memantine to decrease abnormal activity in the brain

Lifestyle Changes

These changes may also be helpful:

• Getting light exercise
• Eating a healthy diet such as the Mediterranean Diet or something like it
• Making the home a calm and safe place
• Getting personal comfort needs met, such as hunger, thirst, and emotions
• Using memory aides
• Choosing a person who can make medical and other key choices for a person if they are not able to

Prevention

The exact cause of dementia is not known. General tips for brain health include:

• Exercise regularly. Aim for 150 minutes or more of activity each week.
• Eat a healthful diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, seeds, olive oil, and fish.
• If you drink, drink in moderation. This means no more than 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men.
• Stop smoking.
• Reach or stay at a healthy weight.
• Manage high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
• Look for ways to challenge and grow mental abilities throughout life. This could mean learning new skills or completing mental games and puzzles.

References

• Alzheimer dementia. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: https://www.dynamed.com/condition/alzheimer-dementia.
• Dementia evaluation. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: https://www.dynamed.com/evaluation/dementia-evaluation.
• How is Alzheimer's disease treated? National Institute on Aging website. Available at: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/how-alzheimers-disease-treated.
• Moga, D.C., Roberts, M., et al. Dementia for the Primary Care Provider. Primary Care, 2017; 44 (3): 439-456.
• What do we know about diet and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease? National Institute on Aging website. Available at: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-do-we-know-about-diet-and-prevention-alzheimers-disease.